FEB  V«  1917 


Section    .^.B?? 


THE  MASTER'S  WAY 


THE  MASTER'S   WAY 

A    STUDY    IN   THE 
SYNOPTIC  GOSPELS 

FEB  a6 


CHARLES  REYNOLDS  BROWN 

DEAN  OF  THE  SCHOOL  OF  RELIGION 
YALE  UNIVERSITY 


THE  PILGRIM  PRESS 

BOSTON  CHICAGO 


Copyright  1917 
By  CHARLES  R.  BROWN 


THE     PILGRIM     PRESS 
BOSTON 


PREFACE 

This  is  not  a  '*  Life  of  Christ."  It  contains  a  series  of 
studies  based  upon  the  more  significant  actions  and  utterances 
of  The  Master  as  we  find  them  reported  in  the  Synoptic 
Gospels.  These  studies  are  arranged  not  always  in  chrono- 
logical but  in  what  I  trust  may  be  considered  a  logical  order. 

These  chapters  were  originally  published  in  "  The  Congre- 
gationalist,"  and  are  reproduced  here  by  the  gracious  per- 
mission of  its  Editors.  They  have  been  freely  retouched  and 
in  some  cases  entirely  rewritten. 

They  are  brought  together  here  in  this  more  convenient  as 
well  as  more  permanent  form  in  the  hope  that  they  may  serve 
the  needs  of  those  laymen  who  are  teaching  in  our  Sunday 
Schools  or  leading  Bible  study  groups  in  city  and  college 
Christian  Associations,  or  conducting  lay  services  in  missions 
or  chapels.  They  were  not  written  for  the  critical  scholar  and 
I  shall  not  suffer  disappointment  if  he  passes  by  on  the  other 
side  to  find  books  better  suited  to  his  needs.  These  chapters 
are  offered  to  those  who,  moving  along  the  main  travelled 
roads  of  human  experience,  would  know  more  of  "  The 
Master's  Way,"  that  they  too  may  walk  in  it  with  surer  tread 
and  a  more  resolute  purpose. 

Charles  Reynolds  Brown. 

Yale  University 
January,  1917. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

I.  The  Coming  Herald.    Luke  1:5-53 

II.  The  Birth  of  John  the  Baptist.    Luke  i:  57-80  . 

III.  The  Birth  of  Jesus.    Luke  2:  1-20 

IV.  The  Star  in  the  East.    Matthew  2      .         .         . 
V.  The  Presentation  in  the  Temple.    Luke  2:  22-39 

VI.    The  Boy  in  the  Temple.    Luke  2:  40-52 
VII.    The  Ministry  of  John  the  Baptist.    Mark  i:  1-8; 

Luke  3:1-20 

VIII.    The    Testing   of    New-Found    Strength.     Mark 

i:  g-13;  Matt.  4:  i-ii 

IX.    The  Call  of  the  First  Disciples.    Mark  i:  14-28; 

Luke  5'-  i-ii 

X.    The  Ministry  of  Healing.    Mark  i:  29-45;  Matt. 

3:23-35 

XI.    The    Paralytic    Forgiven    and    Healed.      Mark 

2: 1-12 

XII.    Feasting  and  Fasting.    Mark  2:  13-22  . 

XIII.  The  Visit  to  Nazareth.    Luke  4-'  ^6-30 

XIV.  The  Twelve  Men.    Mark  3:  7-19;  Matt.  10: 1-7    . 
XV.    The  Real  Sources  of  Happiness.    Matt.  5-'  3-12  . 

XVI.  The  Law  of  Love.    Luke  6:  27-38  .... 

XVII.  The  Old  Law  and  the  New  Life.    Matt.  5:  17-26 

XVIII.  The  Value  of  True  and  Kindly  Speech.    Matt. 

5:33-37 

XIX.  Hypocrisy   and   Sincerity.^     Matt.  6: 1-18     . 

XX.  The  Use  of  the  Sabbath.    Mark  2:  23—3:  6  . 

XXI.  Malignant  Unbelief.    Mark  3:  20-35  • 

XXII.  Clean  and  Unclean  Meats.    Mark  7: 1-23  . 

XXIII.  The   Master's   Estimate   of  John   the   Baptist. 

Matt.    11: 1-19 

XXIV.  The  Tragic  Death  of  John  the  Baptist.     Mark 

6:  14-29  .         .  

XXV.    The  Ruler's  Daughter.    Mark  5:  21-43 
XXVI.    The  Feeding  of  the  Five  Thousand.  Mark  6:  30-44 
XXVIL    The  Storm-Tossed  Men.    Mark  6:45-56      • 
XXVIII.    The  Great  Question.    Mark  8:  27-38  . 


PAGE 
3 

9 

15 

21 

27 

33 
39 
45 
51 

57 

68 

74 
80 
86 
92 
98 

104 
110 
116 
122 
128 

134 

140 

149 
155 
161 
167 


Vlll 


CONTENTS 


30-41: 


35-38; 


46-52 
:  10: 


24-30; 


J  XXIX.    A  Troubled   Sea  and  a  Troubled  Soul.     Mark 

4:35—5:20 

XXX.    The    Christ    and    the    Child.      Mark    g: 

10:  13-16 

XXXI.    The    Mission   of   the   Twelve.     Matt.   9; 
10:34-42      ...... 

XXXII.    The  Penitent  Woman.    Luke  7:  36-50  . 

XXXIII.  Judgment  and  Mercy.    Matt.  11:  20-30  . 

XXXIV.  The  Blind  Receive  Their  Sight.    Mark  10 
XXXV.    The  Life  of  Service.     Luke  8:1-3;  g:  57-62 

38-42 

XXXVI.    The  Rank  and  File.    Luke  10: 1-24     . 
XXXVII.    Light  and  Darkness.    Luke  11:  14-26,  33-36 
XXXVIII.    The  Sham  and  the  Real.    Luke  11:  37-54 
XXXIX.    Faith  Destroying  Fear.     Luke  12: 1-12 
XL.    Christ's  Table  Talk.     Luke  14:  7-24  . 
XLI.    The  Mission  to  the  Gentiles.,    Mark  7: 

Matt.  8:5-13 

XLII.    Wanderings  in  Decapolis..  Mark  7:31 — 8: 
XLIII.    The  Transfiguration.    Mark  9: 2-13     . 
XLIV.    The  Lunatic  Boy.    Mark  9:  14-29  . 
XLV.    The  Right  Use  of  the  Sabbath.    Luke  13: 

14:  1-6  

XLVI.    Lessons  by  the  Way.    Luke  13: 18-35  - 
XLVII.    Four  Straight  Words.    Luke  17:  i-io  . 
XLVIII.    The  Grateful  Samaritan.    Luke  17:  11- 19 
^i  XLIX.    The  Parable  of  the  Soil.    Mark  4:  1-20 

L.    The    Wheat   and   the    Tares.     Matt.    13: 

36-43 

LI.    The  Worth  of  the  Kingdom.    Matt.  13:  44-53 
LII.    The  Hearer  and  the  Doer.    Luke  6:  39-49 
"^LIII.    The  Growth  of  the  Kingdom.    Mark  4:  26-, 
LIV.    The  Sign  and  the  Leaven.    Mark  8:  11-26 
LV.    The  Child  in  the  Midst.    Matt.  18:  1-14 
LVI.    The  Good  Samaritan.    Luke  10:  25-37  • 
LVII.    The   Persistent  Prayer.     Luke   11:  1-13 
LVIII.    Where  Your  Treasure  Is  !    Luke  12:  13-34 
LIX.    The  Fidelity  of  the  Servant.    Luke  12:  35-. 
LX.    Moral  Reclamation.    Luke  15:  i-io 
LXI.    The  Parable  of  the  Father.    Luke  15:  11-32 
LXII.    Common  Sense  in  Religion.    Luke  16:  1-13 


10 


10-17; 


24-30, 


32 


CHAPTER 

LXIII. 
LXIV. 

LXV. 

LXVL 
LXVII. 

LXVIII. 

LXIX. 

LXX. 

LXXL 

LXXII. 

LXXIII. 

LXXIV. 

LXXV. 

LXXVL 

LXXVIL 

LXXVIII. 

LXXIX. 

LXXX. 

LXXXL 

LXXXII. 
LXXXIII. 

LXXXIV. 

LXXXV. 

LXXXVL 

LXXXVII. 

LXXXVIII. 

LXXXIX. 

XC 

XCI. 


CONTENTS  .  ix 

PAGE 

The  Rich  Man  and  Lazarus.  Luke  i6: 19-31  .  379 
The   Unseen   Advance   of   the   Kingdom.     Luke 

17-' 20-37 385 

The  Friend  of  Those  Who  Had  Failed.     Luke 

18:  9-15;  19:  i-io 391 

The  Parable  of  the  Hours.  Matt.  20: 1-16  .  .  397 
The  Varying  Use  of  Equal  Opportunity.    Luke 

19: 11-27 403 

The  Abuse  of  High  Privilege.  Matt.  21:  33-46  .  409 
The  Doom  of  the  Unfit.  Matt.  22:  1-14  .  .415 
A  Day  of  Questions.  Matt.  22:  15-22  .  .  .421 
The  Need  of  Reserve  Force.  Matt.  25: 1-13  .  .  427 
What    Shall   I    Do  to   Inherit   Eternal   Life? 

Mark  10:  17-31 435 

What  Does  It  Mean  to  Be  Great?     Mark  10: 

32-45 441 

Count  THE  Cost!  Luke  14-25-35  ....  447 
The  Parable  of  Forgiveness.  Matt.  18:  15-3$  .  453 
The  Triumphal  Entry.  Mark  11:  i-ii  .  .  459 
"After    This   the    Judgment."     Mark    11:  12-33; 

Luke  13:  6-9 46s 

"Loving  Is  the  Secret  of  Right  Living."    Mark 

12: 28-44 471 

The  Judgment  of  the  Nations.  Matt.  25:  31-46  .  477 
A  Study  in  Values.  Mark  14  •'  i-n  .  .  .  483 
The  Last  Supper.  Mark  14:  12-25  •  •  .489 
The  Loneliness  of  Christ.  Mark  14:  32-42  .  .  495 
The   Man   Who   Might   Have   Been.     Matt  26: 

14-25,  47-50;  27:  3-10 501 

The  Arrest  and  Trial  of  Jesus.  Matt.  26:  47-68  507 
Jesus  and  Peter.  Mark  14:27-31,  53-54,  66-72  .  513 
Jesus  Before  Pilate.     Matt.  27:  11-31;  Luke  23: 

1-25 519 

Christ  Crucified.  Mark  15:  21-40;  Luke  23:  39-43  525 
"He  Is  Risen."  Mark  16: 1-8;  Matt.  28:  11-15  .  53i 
The  Road  to  Emmaus.  Luke  24:  13-32  .  .  537 
The   Great   Commission.     Matt.   28:  16-20;   Luke 

24: 36-49 542 

"He    Ascended    into    Heaven."      Luke    24:50-53; 
Acts  i:  i-ii 548 


4 


BOOKjI 
THE  ONE  WHOXAME 


THE    MASTER'S   WAY 

I 

THE  COMING  HERALD 
Luke  1 : 5-53 

It  was  Luke,  the  beloved  physician,  who  gave  us  the 
fullest  account  of  the  events  preceding  and  attending  the 
birth  of  Christ.  And  the  same  beloved  physician  portrayed 
with  dignity  and  delicacy  the  sacred  anticipations  cherished 
by  the  parents  of  John  the  Baptist-  His  sense  of  intimate 
touch  with  life  prompted  him  to  offer  us  certain  narratives 
which  are  pecuHar  to  the  third  Gospel.  The  study  of  origins 
becomes  fruitful  in  affording  intimations  of  the  gains  to  be 
expected  through  development. 

He  seeks  to  show  something  of  the  setting  of  that  life 
which  Jesus  soberly  estimated  as  among  the  greatest  born  of 
women.  He  looks  beyond  "the  spirit  of  the  age,"  or  the  visible 
environment  of  this  child  who  was  to  have  such  mighty  signifi- 
cance as  a  forerunner  of  the  Messiah.  He  undertakes  to  indi- 
cate and  to  estimate  the  potent  influence  for  good  to  be  found 
in  certain  parental  desires  and  expectations  as  they  found 
worthy  expression  in  that  unfolding  life  which  thus  answered 
to  their  hope. 

"The  child  is  father  to  the  man,"  but  all  those  forces 
which  contribute  to  the  initial  impulse  and  direction  of  the 
child's  life,  as  it  enters  upon  its  own  particular  orbit,  are 
father  to  the  child.  The  long,  dry  lists  of  names  which  stand 
at  the  beginning  of  both  the  first  and  the  third  Gospels,  under- 
taking to  give  the  genealogy  of  the  family  of  Jesus  for  forty 
generations,  are  the  attempts  of  men  who  sought  to  indicate 
that  some  at  least  of  the  forces  which  brought  that  match- 

3 


4  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

less  life  upon  the  scene  lay  securely  embedded  in  their  own 
national  history. 

The  scientific  men  tell  us  that  it  took  ten  thousand  years 
to  rub  the  shaggy  hair  off  the  beast  and  produce  the  fair,  clean 
skin  of  the  human.  They  say  that  it  took  another  ten  thou- 
sand years  to  teach  this  higher  form  of  life  to  stand  erect 
in  place  of  going  on  all  fours  with  the  ape,  the  tiger  and  the 
hog.  We  represent  the  outcome  of  that  age-long  conflict  be- 
tween the  human  and  the  brutal.  The  forces  which  help  to 
make  us  what  we  are  reach  back  through  all  those  long  dark 
periods  of  struggle. 

And  we  in  turn  are  casting  whatever  measure  of  aspira- 
tion and  of  high  resolve  we  may  be  able  to  show,  into  the 
same  patient  process  of  advance.  The  spiritual  forces  which 
we  help  to  set  in  motion  are  conditioning  the  lives  of  children 
yet  to  be  born  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generations  of  those 
who  love  and  of  those  who  hate  Him !  Yea,  the  forces  which 
have  to  do  with  the  life  of  the  spirit  find  expression  in  the 
determination  of  results  even  unto  the  thirtieth  and  the  fortieth 
generation. 

The  beginnings  of  a  human  soul,  how  full  of  mysterious 
significance!  How  intricate  are  the  varied  influences  which 
cause  that  fresh  young  life  to  show  unusual  capacity,  it  may 
be  for  good,  or,  it  may  be,  alas,  for  evil!  If  the  launching  of 
a  ship  destined  to  sail  the  high  seas  in  all  weathers  and  to  do 
business  in  great  waters  is  an  occasion  fraught  with  deep 
solemnity  to  those  who  know  the  perils  of  the  deep  and  the 
far-reaching  significance  of  that  world-wide  traffic  to  which 
the  great  vessel  is  pledged,  how  much  more  the  launching 
of  a  life  facing  upon  an  unending  future  and  capable  of  carry- 
ing that  priceless  cargo  of  character  which  may  link  it  to 
the  Most  High.  We  can  understand  how  this  spiritually- 
minded  physician  conversant  with  the  hidden  meanings  and 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  5 

potencies  of  life  dwelt  with  reverent  interest  on  the  birth  of 
one  who  should  in  splendid  fashion  "prepare  the  way  of  the 
Lord." 

The  beloved  physician  shows  an  interest  in  the  now 
much  mooted  question  of  spiritual  heredity.  We  find  hard 
and  fast  lines  drawn  by  some  of  the  students  of  this  mystery 
between  "native"  and  "acquired"  characteristics.  But  men  of 
sense  and  wide  observation  will  be  loth  to  surrender  their 
faith  in  the  handing  on  of  moral  tendencies  from  father  to 
son  quite  independently  of  the  influence  which  may  justly  be 
attributed  to  similar  environment.  The  physical  characteristics 
which  are  steadily  reappearing  in  certain  human  stocks  seem 
but  the  outward  and  visible  signs  of  certain  inward  and  spir- 
itual inclinations  which  are  being  handed  on  perpetually  in  a 
noble  or  an  ignoble  line  of  succession. 

"Blood  tells"  in  those  horses  which  are  deemed  worthy 
to  take  part  in  the  "track  events,"  and  blood  tells  in  the  dogs 
which  "make"  the  dog  show.  Blood  tells  in  the  human  beings 
who  come  up  as  candidates  for  college  honors  or  for  the  more 
substantial  recognition  and  rewards  which  belong  to  mature 
life.  Whatever  blessings  and  benefits  may  come  with  favor- 
ing environment  and  thorough  training,  it  is  an  inestimable 
privilege  to  be  well  born  the  first  time!  The  "new  birth"  in 
such  case  secures  a  better  start  for  the  life  which  is  to  run 
the  race  for  an  incorruptible  crown. 

The  picture  of  these  two  parents,  Zacharias  and  Elisa- 
beth, in  the  presence  of  the  promised  fulfillment  of  their  dear- 
est hopes,  has  all  the  touches  of  reality.  The  reluctant  faith 
of  the  father  in  the  face  of  a  great  hope;  the  more  ready  and 
grateful  faith  of  the  mother;  the  deep  sense  of  something 
august  and  sacred  in  the  hearts  of  both — how  true  to  life  is  all 
this!  "The  people  waited  for  Zacharias  and  marveled  that 
he  tarried  so  long  in  the  temple."     When  he  made  bold  to 


6  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

accept  this  new  and  deeper  meaning  of  life  which  fatherhood 
involved,  he  lingered  in  the  place  of  reverence  and  aspiration 
as  best  suited  to  his  own  mood  of  awe  and  devotion. 

The  sense  of  the  responsible  and  unspeakably  precious 
relation  he  would  sustain  to  that  young  soul  made  any  sort 
of  immediate  utterance  seem  distasteful  and  impossible. 
"When  he  came  out  he  could  not  speak  unto  them :  and  they 
perceived  that  he  had  seen  a  vision  in  the  temple."  It  stands 
as  a  quiet  rebuke  to  the  flippant  and  frivolous  spirit  in  which 
the  fact  of  parenthood  is  sometimes  discussed  by  those  who 
have  never  seen  a  vision  of  its  deeper  meaning  in  the  temple. 

The  old-fashioned  office  provided  for  the  gratitude  of  the 
mother  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  now  so  largely  fallen 
into  disuse;  the  solemn  dedication  of  the  life  of  the  child  to 
God  and  the  recognition  of  his  rights  and  interest  in  this 
new  life  which  find  fitting  expression  in  the  sacrament  of 
baptism;  the  whole  acceptance  of  the  parental  and  the  filial 
attitudes  as  being  fundamental  to  the  life  of  God  and  man; 
and  the  sacred  undertaking  to  make  each  home  an  expression 
of  the  will  and  method  of  him  from  whom  the  whole  family 
in  heaven  and  on  earth  is  named — all  these  have  to  do  with  the 
placing  of  a  just  emphasis  upon  the  spiritual  meaning  and 
value  of  those  experiences  which  are  brought  before  us  in  this 
passage. 

If  our  ears  were  less  dull  and  were  not  drummed  into 
unresponsiveness  by  the  noise  of  the  life  material,  the  father 
and  the  mother  in  any  home  might  in  the  hour  of  their  great 
joy  hear  the  same  august  message  from  on  high.  'T  am 
Gabriel  that  stand  in  the  presence  of  God.  I  am  sent  to 
speak  unto  thee  and  shew  thee  these  glad  tidings."  And  if  the 
initial  responsibility  of  parentage  were  accepted  in  that  high 
mood  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  that  divine  co-operation  for  the 
nurture  of  the  newborn  child,  there  would  be  less  heartache 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  7 

in  store  for  the  parents  in  the  years  that  lie  ahead.  Their 
ears  also  might  hear  the  assuring  words,  "Thou  shalt  have 
joy  and  gladness  and  many  shall  rejoice  at  his  birth." 

The  rights  of  the  child  have  been  receiving  clearer  recog- 
nition at  the  hands  of  the  civilized  nations  in  the  framing 
of  their  laws.  The  interests  of  the  immature  himself  incapa- 
ble of  self -protection  are  the  more  jealously  guarded  by  society 
as  a  whole  in  the  expression  of  its  will  through  duly  enacted 
statutes.  This  wise  care  reaches  back  of  the  hour  of  birth 
and  stretches  its  protecting  scepter  over  the  unborn  child. 

The  further  recognition  of  the  right  of  every  life  to  be 
well  born,  to  have  an  honest  start  rather  than  a  handicap  heavy 
enough  to  be  prohibitive  of  all  high  attainment,  is  on  the  way. 
It  has  already  found  expression  in  widely  prevalent  sentiment 
upon  this  question.  Where  any  measure  of  intelligence  and 
conscience  is  possessed  by  the  diseased,  they  shrink  from 
making  their  sorry  bequest  to  other  lives  which  shall  be  robbed 
at  the  start  of  a  normal  equipment. 

The  iniquity  of  child  labor  becomes  the  more  apparent 
when  studied  in  the  light  of  its  bearing  upon  racial  develop- 
ment. When  young  girls  of  fourteen  and  sixteen  are  em- 
ployed in  factories  where  for  twenty-six  days  in  the  month 
they  are  compelled  to  stand  at  their  work  ten  hours  a  day, 
they  find  themselves  ill-fitted  for  the  joys  and  responsibilities 
of  mature  womanhood.  When  young  women  in  department 
stores  stand  all  day  behind  the  counter  with  no  seats  provided 
for  the  intervals  of  leisure  between  the  coming  and  going  of 
customers,  the  ugly  wages  of  such  commercial  cruelty  are  paid 
not  by  the  employing  firm  but  by  the  little  lives  in  later  years 
who  find  themselves  handicapped  from  the  start. 

This  recognition  of  the  right  of  the  child  to  be  well  born 
may  yet  find  still  more  resolute  expression  in  laws  which  for- 
bid the  marriage  of  the  defective  and  the  delinquent  where 


8  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

the  abnormality  passes  a  certain  limit.  It  is  a  question  to  be 
decided  not  by  majority  vote  in  public  assemblies  nor  by  the 
passing  of  hastily  framed  resolutions  by  those  who  are  not 
competent  to  judge.  We  shall  need  to  turn  to  those  physicians 
at  once  wise  and  beloved,  possessed  like  this  doctor  of  old 
of  professional  skill  and  of  spiritual  insight,  to  learn  the 
courses  of  action  which  are  best  calculated  to  increase  the 
number  of  lives  destined  in  their  maturity  to  ''prepare 
the  way  of  the  Lord." 


II 

THE  BIRTH  OF  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST 
Luke  1 :  57-80 

''There  was  a  man  sent  from  God  whose  name  was  John." 
There  have  been  many  such.  John  the  Baptist  and  John  the 
Apostle  stand  at  the  head  of  a  goodly  succession.  John 
Chrysostom,  the  great  preacher  of  righteousness  in  the  Eastern 
Church,  and  John  Wycliffe,  the  Morning  Star  of  the  Ref- 
ormation in  the  Western  Church,  were  men  sent  from  God 
John  Calvin  and  John  Knox,  John  Milton  and  John  Wesley, 
John  Robinson  at  Scrooby  and  John  Hall  on  Manhattan  Island 
were  all  sent  from  God  to  bear  witness  to  the  Light.  Time 
would  fail  me  to  tell  of  all  the  men  of  faith  whose  names  were 
John. 

Neither  current  custom  nor  the  counsel  of  friends  nor  the 
family  tradition  guided  the  parents  in  bestowing  this  name 
upon  their  child.  It  was  done  in  obedience  to  one  of  those 
mysterious  impulses  which  the  Hebrews  simply  and  accu- 
rately called  "the  word  of  the  Lord."  The  narrator  loves  to 
think  that  even  in  these  less  important  details  the  devout  par- 
ents were  providentially  guided  in  the  care  and  culture  of  this 
child  who  should  be  called  "the  prophet  of  the  Highest"  and  be 
competent  "to  guide  the  feet  of  many  in  the  way  of  peace." 

The  nature  of  this  John  was  stern  and  uncompromising. 
He  laid  his  ax  at  the  root  of  the  tree.  He  sought  by  his  win- 
nowing fan  to  separate  the  worthless  chaff  for  the  burning 
from  the  wholesome  wheat  to  be  gathered  into  the  garner. 
Yet  this  rigorous  action  was  dictated  by  love.    "The  goodness 

9 


10  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

and  the  severity  of  God"  have  no  quarrel.  In  certain  situa- 
tions goodness  must  be  severe  in  order  to  be  good.  The  un- 
sparing severity  of  the  surgeon  cutting  out  some  mah!gnant 
growth  which  has  become  a  menace  stands  as  the  highest  ex- 
pression of  goodness.  The  radical  opposition  of  John  the 
Baptist  to  the  sham  religion  of  his  day  and  to  all  that  op- 
posed the  beneficent  purpose  of  the  Messiah  whose  forerunner 
he  was,  became  a  genuine  kindness  to  the  important  interests 
at  stake. 

The  unusual  circumstances  surrounding  his  birth  por- 
trayed in  an  earlier  portion  of  this  chapter  had  aroused  ex- 
pectation. They  were  esteemed  prophetic  intimations  of  com- 
ing greatness.  ''What  manner  of  child  shall  this  be?"  men 
were  saying  as  they  saw  the  babe  in  the  arms  of  his  mother. 

There  were  mysterious  forces  at  work  in  his  life  which 
made  it  impossible  for  any  definite  answer  to  be  given  to  this 
query.  "The  hand  of  the  Lord  was  with  him/'  the  author 
says.  *'He  was  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit"  from  the  very 
beginning.  In  the  presence  of  such  energies  at  work  and  un- 
impeded by  a  refractory  will  we  can  readily  believe  that  this 
life  would  be  destined  to  wield  a  mighty  significance  in  Chris- 
tian history. 

"What  manner  of  child  shall  this  be?"  No  one  knew. 
No  one  ever  knows  the  unreahzed  possibiHties  of  any  child's 
life.  If  some  woman  of  means  should  entrust  to  you  her 
jewels,  diamonds,  emeralds,  rubies,  you  would  know  instantly, 
when  once  she  had  stated  to  you  their  monetary  value,  how 
much  poorer  she  would  be  and  how  much  poorer  the  world 
v/ould  be,  were  you  to  drop  them  in  the  bay.  But  if  she 
should  entrust  to  you  for  an  hour  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  as 
a  teacher  in  the  Sunday  school,  as  an  associate  or  an  em- 
ployer, her  boy,  then  you  would  find  yourself  utterly  unable 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  11 

to  state  how  much  poorer  she  would  be,  or  how  much  poorer 
the  world  would  be  should  you  fail  to  do  all  that  lies  within 
your  power  to  have  that  boy  fulfill  the  highest  purpose  of  his 
being. 

What  manner  of  child  shall  this  be,  if  as  a  result  of  your 
influence  and  hers  he  becomes  a  Christian  and  invests  his  un- 
folding energies  in  the  service  of  the  Highest?  No  one  can 
possibly  predict  the  outcome.  In  the  presence  of  the  ever- 
lasting mystery  of  expanding  and  unfolding  life,  where  the 
hand  of  the  Lord  is  upon  it  for  good,  we  stand  bewildered.  It 
is  both  stimulating  and  sobering  to  thus  deal  with  interests 
v.here  the  full  values  cannot  be  rated  immediately  and  given 
definite  statement. 

We  have  in  this  passage  one  of  those  early  Christian 
hymns  which  have  been  collected  in  the  great  liturgies  of  the 
Christian  Church.  In  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  we  find 
the  ''Benedictus/'  the  ''Magnificat  and  the  ''Nunc  Dimittis" 
with  other  finished  expressions  of  the  worship  of  that  earlier 
time.  How  many  hearts  have  been  called  to  the  high  mood 
of  thanksgiving  in  those  noble  words  of  the  "Benedictusr 
"Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  for  he  hath  visited  and 
redeemed  his  people.  He  hath  raised  up  an  horn  of  salva- 
tion for  us  in  the  house  of  his  servant  David  ...  to  give  light 
to  them  that  sit  in  darkness  and  to  guide  our  feet  into  the  way 
of  peace!" 

How  many  modest  lives  witnessing  the  expansion  of  their 
humble  resources  under  the  divine  blessing  as  they  were  yielded 
in  service,  have  found  their  gratitude  voiced  for  them  in  the 
words  of  the  "Magnificat T  "My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord, 
for  he  that  is  mighty  hath  done  to  me  great  things.  He  hath 
shewed  strength  with  his  arm;  he  hath  put  down  the  mighty 
from  their  seats  and  exalted  them  of  low  degree." 

How  many  devout  souls  having  fought  a  good  fight  and 


12  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

finished  their  course,  having  seen  the  realization  of  their 
dearest  hopes,  have  whispered  at  the  last  these  words  of  "Nunc 
Dimittis!"  "Now  let  thy  servant  depart  in  peace  for  mine 
eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation."  The  great  Christian  hymns 
of  the  ages,  ancient  and  modern,  gather  up  the  best  that  has 
been  seen  and  felt  by  the  resolute  souls  who  have  joyously 
ascended  up  into  heaven  and  found  God  there,  who  have  made 
their  bed  in  the  lowest  depths  of  sorrow  and  have  found  him 
there. 

The  ''Beiiedichis"  was  a  great,  brave  anticipation  of  spir- 
itual results  to  be  achieved  in  the  ftiture  under  the  consecrated 
leadership  of  John  the  Baptist  and  in  yet  fuller  measure 
through  the  One  for  whose  coming  he  paved  the  way.  But 
so  confident  is  the  singer  in  his  prophetic  mood  regarding  the 
sure  results  to  be  attained  that  he  speaks  of  them  as  accom- 
plished facts.  "Blessed  be  the  Lord  God  of  Israel,  for  he 
kath  visited  and  redeemed  his  people."  His  lofty  ideals  were 
grounded  in  that  confidence  of  faith  which  at  once  gives  sub- 
stance to  things  hoped  for,  becoming  immediately  the  credible 
evidence  of  things  not  seen. 

He  links  up  the  past  and  the  present  in  such  a  way  as  to 
bring  out  forcibly  the  historical  continuity  of  that  spiritual  ad- 
vance and  to  furnish  reliable  warrant  for  his  high  hopes.  The 
"horn  of  salvation"  was  to  be  raised  up  in  the  house  and  from 
the  lineage  of  David,  the  best  king  that  Israel  ever  had.  The 
splendid  moral  fulfillment  would  be  in  line  Vvnth  the  hopes 
expressed  "by  the  mouth  of  the  holy  prophets  which  have  been 
since  the  world  began."  The  mercies  performed  would  be 
those  promised  to  the  fathers  in  the  terms  of  an  ancient  and 
holy  covenant.  The  spiritual  results  would  be  the  accomplish- 
ment of  an  oath  which  in  the  dim  ages  of  the  past  "the  Lord 
had  sworn  to  their  father  Abraham." 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  13 

The  seed  wheat  of  future  harvests  is  to  be  found  in  the 
moral  gains  already  made.  The  tests  which  have  been  made  as 
men  have  been  proving  many  things  have  made  plain  certain 
principles  which  abide — we  shall  not  need  to  perform  these  ex- 
periments again.  And  we  shall  best  ground  our  expectations 
for  further  advance  as  we  rest  them  upon  those  enduring  les- 
sons which  the  ages  have  taught  us  by  such  profound  experi- 
ences as  are  indicated  in  these  splendid  hymns  of  faith. 

The  work  to  which  John  was  called,  like  the  task  of  the 
man  in  the  "secondary  school,"  was  of  necessity  preparatory. 
"Thou  shalt  go  before  the  face  of  the  Lord  to  prepare  his 
v/ays."  It  is  the  high  office  of  many  a  life  to  plant  trees  whose 
fruit  will  not  be  eaten  by  the  one  who  sets  the  roots  in  place. 
In  every  field  of  human  effort  patient  sowers  of  seed  are  at 
work  knowing  that  the  glorious  harvest  will  be  reaped  by  other 
hands.  So  be  it!  There  is  a  glory  in  laying  foundations  as 
well  as  in  placing  capstones. 

It  is  only  fair  that  each  generation  should  take  its  turn 
in  filling  the  role  of  John  the  Baptist.  Other  men  have  labored 
and  we  have  entered  into  their  labors.  We  shall  only  square 
the  account  as  we  lay  foundations  broad  and  sure  on  which 
our  successors  may  build  their  finer  achievements. 

Count  it  all  joy  if  you  may  in  some  situation  the  most 
obscure,  perhaps,  do  a  bit  of  honest,  vital  work  and  set  it  in 
the  great  process  faced  toward  moral  advance.  The  abiding 
forces  of  spiritual  conservation  will  take  it  up  and  utilize  it  for 
that  ultimate  fulfillment  which  lies  as  3^et,  even  for  the  boldest 
seer,  far  below  the  horizon. 

"The  child  grew  and  waxed  strong  and  was  in  the  deserts 
till  the  day  of  his  showing."  The  grim,  meager,  lonely  charac- 
ter of  the  desert  where  stone  and  sand  and  barren  shrub  alone 
contend  for  attention  with  the  blue  sky  and  the  burning  sun, 


14  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

all  had  their  counterpart  in  the  moral  development  of  that 
rugged  nature  which  in  the  days  of  his  strength  would  come 
as  a^  voice  crying  in  the  wilderness,  "Prepare  ye  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  make  his  paths  straight." 


Ill 

THE  BIRTH  OF  JESUS 
Luke  2: 1-20 

"Behold  I  bring  you  good  tidings !"  The  familiar  words 
first  fell  on  the  listening  ears  of  shepherds  keeping  watch  over 
their  flocks  by  night.  They  were  standing  guard  over  the  help- 
less sheep,  protecting  them  from  the  wolves  and  jackals,  from 
the  thieves  and  robbers  which  lurked  among  those  Judean  hills. 
Simple  outdoor  men  they  were,  unused  to  theological  subtle- 
ties !  Plain  minds  they  had,  accustomed  to  deal  with  concrete 
realities !  And  to  these  men  was  made  known  the  birth  of  the 
Messiah. 

It  was  not  the  first  time  nor  the  last  that  splendid  truths 
have  been  hidden  from  the  wise  and  prudent  by  the  very  con- 
fidence of  those  men  in  their  own  powers  of  discernment  and 
revealed  to  men  of  childlike  habit  of  thought  willing  to  be 
taught  and  led.  The  gravest  charge  which  can  be  laid  at  the 
door  of  the  learned  Pharisees  is  that  the  greatest  event  in  the 
moral  history  of  the  world  took  place  under  their  very  eyes 
and  they  did  not  see  it.  The  Scribes  and  Pharisees  were  deaf 
to  the  songs  in  the  air  heard  by  the  listening  shepherds. 

"Let  us  now  go  even  unto  Bethlehem  and  see  this  thing 
which  is  come  to  pass."  The  shepherds  for  many  years  had 
been  leading  their  flocks  in  green  pastures  and  by  still  waters. 
They  may  be  competent  to  lead  our  minds  into  the  presence 
and  the  meaning  of  this  event  which  has  altered  the  moral 
history  of  the  race ! 

How  strange  that  the  birth  of  a  child  should  change  the 
calendars  of  the  world !    The  Hebrews  had  been  dating  their 

15 


16  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

calendar  from  what  they  supposed  to  have  been  the  period  of 
the  Creation.  The  Romans  reckoned  their  time  from  the 
founding  of  the  city  on  the  seven  hills.  The  Greeks  reckoned 
their  time  from  the  first  Olympic  Games.  But  today  if  you 
meet  a  Hebrew  or  an  Italian  or  a  Greek  in  any  part  of  the 
world  and  ask  him  what  year  it  is,  he  will  reply  instantly, 
''Nineteen  hundred  and  seventeen !"  It  is  that  long  since  the 
child  was  born  in  Bethlehem  of  Judea. 

The  child  grown  to  be  a  man,  exalted  to  be  a  Saviour,  has 
so  drawn  the  attention  of  mankind  to  himself,  so  gathered  the 
forces  of  history  into  his  own  hands,  so  taken  the  moral  gov- 
ernment of  the  world  upon  his  shoulder,  as  to  make  his  birth- 
day the  fixed  point  from  which  England  and  America,  France 
and  Italy,  Russia  and  Germany  and  all  the  more  powerful 
nations  of  earth,  reckon  their  time. 

You  think  it  is  wonderful  that  wise  men  saw  a  strange  star 
in  the  east,  that  shepherds  heard  songs  in  the  air,  that  Luke, 
a  Gentile  physician,  and  Matthew,  a  Hebrew  tax  collector, 
recorded  extraordinary  conditions  surrounding  the  birth  of 
this  child!  These  things  are  wonderful  indeed,  but  none  of 
them  so  wonderful  as  the  solid  fact  that  a  child  born  in  pov- 
erty and  obscurity,  in  an  out-of-the-way  village  in  insignificant 
Palestine,  should  have  thus  impressed  his  birthday  on  the 
leading  nations  of  the  earth. 

When  Jesus  reached  his  maturity  and  stood  up  to  give  his 
first  pubHc  address,  he  said,  "The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon 
me  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  acceptable  year 
of  the  Lord."  A  year  of  the  Lord  it  was  indeed !  A  year  of 
the  Lord  it  has  remained.  And  when  we  celebrated  this  birth- 
day last  December  we  wrote  it,  ''December  25th,  1916,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord" ! 

Whatever  else  may  be  uncertain  this  is  sure.  However  we 
may  be  confused  touching  the  place  of  Christ  in  the  ordinary 


THE   ONE  WHO   CAME  17 

categories  of  human  existence,  here  is  that  which  is  undeniable. 
Here  stands  the  great  fact  of  Christ,  born  into  the  world, 
steadily  building  himself  into  its  intricate  Hfe,  giving  direc- 
tion to  the  flow  of  its  best  thought,  maMng  his  principles  and 
methods  the  head  of  the  corner,  changing  the  calendars  and 
changing  the  ideals  of  men  so  that  we  measure  them  according 
to  their  distance  from  him!  Let  us  indeed  go  to  Bethlehem 
and  see  this  thing  which  is  come  to  pass ! 

"Born  this  day  in  the  city  of  David !"  He  was  not  a  celes- 
tial being  descending  out  of  the  clouds,  detached,  unrelated, 
unorganized  with  this  human  life  of  ours.  He  was  born  of  a 
woman.  He  sprang  from  the  house  and  lineage  of  David.  If 
the  human  and  the  divine  were  set  over  against  each  other  in 
irreconcilable  difference  then  such  a  statement  might  bring 
permanent  confusion.  But  the  gospel  proclaims  the  fact  that 
between  the  human  and  the  divine  there  exists  a  necessary  and 
abiding  kinship  like  that  between  the  branch  and  the  vine,  the 
parent  and  the  child.  It  is  possible,  therefore,  that  one  born 
into  our  human  needs  and  duties,  into  our  human  sorrows  and 
delights  should  be  at  once  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  Man. 

The  fact  of  the  incarnation  is  the  revelation  in  time  and  at 
one  place  of  a  truth  universal  and  abiding.  The  tabernacle  of 
God  in  the  last  analysis  is  not  in  the  skies — ''the  tabernacle  of 
God  is  with  men,"  and  he  dwells  with  them.  There  was  born 
to  us  in  a  certain  family  and  in  a  certain  village,  into  a  certain 
system  of  instruction,  into  a  certain  form  of  industry,  into  a 
certain  stage  of  the  world's  political  and  religious  unfolding, 
a  fr^sh  expression  of  the  nearness  and  the  helpfulness  of  the 
Infinite  Spirit.  There  was  born  to  us  in  that  city  of  David,  a 
Saviour  who  is  Christ  the  Lord. 

The  gift  of  Christ  to  be  the  Saviour  of  men  is  commonly 
regarded  as  God's  supreme  appeal  to  the  conscience  of  the 
race.    "Last  of  all  he  sent  his  Son,  saying.  They  will  reverence 


18  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

my  son."  The  claim  does  not  rest  on  an  arbitrary  assertion. 
Who  can  stand  beside  him?  Bring  forward  a  more  searching 
or  helpful  message  than  that  found  in  his  gospel  and  every 
minister  in  Christendom  will  declare  it  to  his  people.  Bring 
a  profounder  source  of  motive  and  stimulus  for  right  living 
than  the  one  uncovered  in  his  word  and  we  will  gladly  use  it  in 
place  of  the  accepted  evangel.  Bring  something  better  to  hold 
before  the  hearts  of  sorrow  or  the  lives  that  have  suffered 
moral  defeat  and  we  shall  utilize  it.  But  the  offer  of  spiritual 
help  superior  to  that  found  in  the  Christ  is  not  forthcoming. 
Last  of  all  and  best  of  all,  he  sent  his  Son ! 

"To  whom  shall  we  go?" — the  question  is  imperative. 
Somewhere  we  must  go  for  our  thought  of  God,  for  a  final 
philosophy  of  life,  for  some  sufficing  source  of  spiritual  energy 
to  renew  our  depleted  strength.  We  want  the  best — "To 
whom  shall  we  go  ?"  Let  us  go  with  the  shepherds  to  Bethle- 
hem and  there  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ  as  his  life  matures 
we  shall  discern  the  character  and  disposition  of  the  Eternal 
Father. 

There  in  the  matchless  teaching  of  this  Christ,  when  his  lips 
shall  have  shaped  themselves  to  our  mode  of  speech,  we  shall 
hear  the  true  philosophy  of  human  existence.  There  in  vital 
fellowship  with  him  who  was  born  in  the  city  of  David  we 
shall  gain  renewal  for  all  the  springs  of  action.  In  that 
Saviour  who  is  Christ  the  Lord,  we  discover  an  abiding  source 
of  moral  help.  Let  us  go  to  Bethlehem  and  meditate  upon 
the  things  which  have  come  to  pass  since  that  memorable 
night.  We  shall  find  ourselves  moved  to  sing  with  fresh 
meaning,  ''Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  peace  on  earth  and 
good  will  toward  men." 

"They  came  with  haste  and  found  Mary  and  Joseph  and  the 
babe  lying  in  a  manger."  Rough  and  rude  were  the  physical 
surroundings.     Joseph  and  Mary  were  poor.     Even  on  that 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  19 

crucial  night  no  better  accommodation  could  they  afford.  The 
eyes  of  Luke  the  physician,  accustomed  to  witness  the  stress 
of  human  existence,  noted  the  pathetic  details  of  the  situation. 
In  "the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  Man"  we  find  the  touches  which 
most  nearly  relate  this  august  life  to  all  our  plainest  needs 
and  sorest  trials. 

But  the  life  which  must  borrow  its  glory  from  its  surround- 
ings shows  the  saddest  poverty.  The  houses  we  live  in,  the 
chairs  we  sit  upon,  the  clothes  we  wear  are  minor  matters. 
I  Jesus  borrowed  nothing  from  his  surroundings.  He  needed 
nothing.  He  was  cradled  in  a  manger.  He  was  reared  in  the 
meagerness  of  little  Nazareth,  feeling  the  privations  of  a  car- 
penter's home.  He  knew  months  of  self-denial  when  he  had 
not  where  to  lay  his  head.  He  was  destined  to  die  not  in  a 
bed  but  on  a  cross  and  his  body  would  be  laid  in  a  borrowed 
tomb.  His  rude  birthplace  was  prophetic  of  the  whole  setting 
which  would  be  given  to  his  life. 

How  little  it  mattered!  The  life  is  more  than  meat.  The 
body  is  more  than  raiment.  And  the  soul  within  is  a  thou- 
sandfold more  than  either.  The  inner  worth  and  the  power 
to  serve  in  any  life  become  the  true  measure  of  its  glory  all 
apart  from  the  accidents  of  its  outer  wrapping.  The  coarse 
appraisement  made  by  current  standards  of  success  and  well- 
being  seem  weak  and  mean  in  the  presence  of  values  which 
outlast  and  outshine  the  stars. 

"The  shepherds  returned  glorifying  and  praising  God  for 
the  things  which  they  had  seen  and  heard."  They  went  back 
to  the  same  old  life  of  hardship  and  anxiety,  but  they  went 
now  in  a  new  mood.  The  old  earth  is  a  different  place  when 
once  it  is  seen  to  have  a  sky  above  it.  The  atmosphere  of  the 
field  or  of  the  shop  is  changed  when  once  it  has  been  filled 
with  the  songs  of  the  angels.  The  Christmas  message  infuses 
new  meaning  and  beauty  into  the  old  life  of  toil. 


20  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

Have  you  never  walked  at  night  when  the  stars  seemed 
nearer  than  the  tree-tops,  when  to  your  own  eyes  the  sky  was 
aglow  with  an  unwonted  radiance?  Have  you  never  known 
some  high  hour  when  a  heavenly  host  seemed  to  sweep  into 
your  vision?  Have  you  never  heard  songs  in  the  air  which 
fell  from  no  human  lips?  If  you  have  never  known  such  mo- 
ments then,  alas,  for  the  meagerness  of  your  inner  life !  But 
if  you  have  entered  upon  these  higher  moods,  your  own  heart 
will  be  the  best  interpreter  of  these  stories  of  the  Nativity. 


IV 

THE  STAR  IN  THE  EAST 
Matthew  2 

"We  have  seen  his  star  in  the  East!"  The  initial  impulse 
of  every  great  religion  has  come  not  from  the  bustling,  prac- 
tical, inventive  West  but  from  the  meditating  and  contemplative 
East.  There  is  Judaism !  In  every  synagogue  in  Europe  and 
America  the  Rabbi  stands  and  points  eastward  to  the  valley 
of  the  Euphrates.  There  he  sees  Abraham,  the  founder  of 
his  faith,  following  the  leading  of  the  divine  spirit,  and  going 
out  from  his  idolatrous  surroundings  to  rear  his  family  in  the 
worship  of  one  God.    The  cradle  of  Judaism  was  in  the  East. 

There  are  the  Buddhists!  Theirs  has  been  a  missionary 
faith.  It  has  spread  from  land  to  land.  But  in  the  Buddhist 
temples  of  Colombo  and  of  Singapore,  of  Lhasa  and  of  Tokyo 
the  uniform  habit  is  to  point  back  to  that  sacred  seat  under 
the  Bo-tree  where  Gautama  sat  for  six  years  silent,  receptive, 
prayerful,  until  the  illumination  came.  The  cradle  of 
Buddhism  was  in  the  far  East. 

There  are  the  Moslems,  powerful,  aggressive,  fanatical  in 
their  allegiance  to  Islam!  Whether  you  find  them  under  the 
Southern  Cross  or  on  the  high  tablelands  in  Thibet  or  along 
the  Bosphorus  they  are  faced  toward  Arabia  where  Moham- 
med made  his  flight  from  Mecca  to  Medina,  where  the  Koran 
was  written  to  teach  men,  "There  is  no  God  but  Allah,  and 
Mohammed  is  his  prophet."  The  cradle  of  Islam  was  in  the 
East. 

And  our  own  Christian  faith  as  well !  It  has  won  its  great- 
est victories,  it  has  come  to  its  fullest  vigor  and  maturity  in 

21 


22  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

Europe  and  America,  but  this  is  not  its  native  soil.  The  great 
Christian  cathedrals  of  Europe  are  built  always  with  the  altar 
end  to  the  east  that  worshipers  may  habitually  face  toward  the 
quarter  whence  light  has  come.  It  is  an  added  testimony  in 
stone,  mute  but  enduring,  as  to  the  birthplace  of  our  faith. 

Jesus  was  an  Oriental.  His  flowing  robes,  his  style  of 
speech,  his  manner  of  Hfe,  all  belong  to  the  East.  When  we 
read  therefore  of  a  mysterious  star  seen  by  wise  men  in  the 
East  it  matches  the  rest.  The  self-perpetuating  missionary 
religions  have  all  come  from  the  East. 

The  wise  men  came  from  the  East  with  this  fundamental 
inquiry  on  their  lips,  "Where  is  he  that  is  born  King  of  the 
Jews?"  The  Jews  were  the  spiritual  leaders  of  the  race  and 
''the  King  of  the  Jews"  might  well  be  king  of  the  whole  moral 
realm.  It  was  a  fundamental  inquiry  which  they  brought. 
W^here  in  this  visible  universe,  where  in  recorded  history  has 
the  Almighty  given  that  tangible  expression  of  himself  before 
which  wise  men  may  bow  in  final  allegiance? 

This  fundamental  question  was  first  asked  by  men  of  in- 
sight and  judgment — wise  men  they  were.  It  was  asked  by 
men  of  moral  earnestness — it  was  in  no  spirit  of  idle  curiosity 
that  they  made  this  journey  across  the  sands  in  search  of  the 
Coming  One.  It  was  asked  by  resolute  men  willing  to  give 
of  their  best  when  they  found  the  object  of  their  quest.  When 
they  saw  the  One  whom  they  sought  they  opened  their  trea- 
sures and  laid  at  his  feet  gold,  frankincense  and  myrrh,  the 
value,  the  beauty  and  the  fragrance  of  their  love.  They  asked 
their  question  as  wise,  earnest,  generous  men,  and  they  found 
their  answer  in  the  child  born  in  Bethlehem  of  Judea. 

The  wise  men  undertook  their  quest  in  dim  uncertain  star- 
light. They  had  some  intimation  that  a  Messiah  would  come. 
Then  they  learned  the  name  of  his  country — he  was  to  be  born 
"King  of  the  Jews."     They  followed  up  this  clew  until  by 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  23 

diligent,  persistent  search  they  knew  the  name  of  the  town — 
it  was  Bethlehem  in  Judea.  At  last  they  knelt  before  the  One 
they  sought  and  rose  up  ennobled  and  enriched.  The  man 
who  takes  his  own  uncertain  vision  of  the  Eternal  Goodness, 
of  the  divine  purpose  for  him,  of  the  privileges  he  might  enjoy 
at  the  hands  of  spiritual  reality  and  follows  on,  will  find  at 
last  that  which  satisfies  the  utmost  demand  of  reason  and 
aspiration. 

It  was  a  time  of  expectancy  at  Jerusalem  also.  The  stu- 
dents of  Scripture  searching  the  ancient  prophets  believed 
that  some  glorious  fulfillment  was  at  hand.  To  the  listening 
ears  and  sensitive  hearts  of  shepherds  keeping  watch  over 
their  flocks,  the  air  became  vocal  with  mysterious  meaning. 
Devout  saints  like  Simeon  and  Anna  were  waiting  for  the 
consolation  of  Israel. 

We  find  this  spirit  communicated  to  those  who  were  morally 
careless,  even  as  the  spirit  of  Christmas  finds  its  way  into 
many  a  profane  place.  **Herod  the  king  was  troubled"  lest 
this  Coming  One  might  dispute  with  him  the  right  to  reign. 
He  summoned  the  chief  priests  and  demanded  of  them  where 
the  Messiah  should  be  born.  He  had  an  interview  with  the 
wise  men  inquiring  anxiously  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  strange 
portent  in  the  sky.  Finally  he  said,  insincerely,  but  voicing 
the  dominant  mood  at  Jerusalem,  "Search  diligently  for  the 
young  child  and  when  ye  have  found  him,  bring  me  word, 
that  I  may  come  and  worship  him  also." 

They  found  him  in  the  manger  of  a  stable !  The  people  of 
that  generation  found  him  ever  amid  the  lowliest  surround- 
ings. He  was  cradled  in  the  modest  home  of  one  who  wrought 
with  saw  and  plane.  He  was  reared  in  a  community  so  un- 
promising that  it  had  become  a  proverb,  ''Out  of  Galilee  ariseth 
no  prophet."  He  was  so  cramped  in  resource  that  for  months 
he  had  no  place  to  lay  his  head.    He  was  scorned  by  the  titled 


24  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

and  the  powerful  in  church  and  state.  He  was  compelled  to 
choose  his  intimates  from  the  peasants,  the  fishermen  and  the 
farmers  of  that  region.  He  was  doomed  to  die  upon  a  cross 
between  two  thieves.  In  his  whole  life  the  advantage  of  out- 
ward circumstances  was  reduced  to  its  lowest  terms. 

But  greatness  in  the  realm  where  he  was  born  king  does 
not  lie  in  externals.  The  place  of  one's  birth,  the  elegance 
or  the  simplicity  of  one's  surroundings,  the  length  of  one's 
bank  account,  the  petty  social  distinctions  so  vital  to  many 
minds — all  these  are  minor  matters.  Real  greatness  is  mea- 
sured in  terms  of  personality.  The  power  to  see  and  to  say, 
the  ability  to  feel  and  to  aspire,  the  strength  to  act  and  to 
serve,  this  alone  makes  a  life  great. 

There  are  many  who  search  diligently  for  him  among  those 
ecclesiastical  splendors  which  have  come  in  his  name-  They 
feel  that  if  they  can  but  enter  the  stateliest,  costliest  cathedral 
it  has  entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  build ;  if  they  can  listen 
to  loud  swelling  anthems  and  Te  Deums  where  Christ's  name 
is  enshrined;  if  they  can  inhale  the  fragrance  of  those  clouds 
of  incense  which  rise  before  him  from  many  altars;  if  they 
can  participate  in  the  gorgeous  ceremonial  of  the  Christian 
Church  in  its  most  ornate  form,  they  will  find  the  One  who 
will  bring  peace  to  their  souls. 

But  the  hint  given  us  in  those  original  lowly  surroundings 
where  the  wise  men  found  him  is  not  to  be  disregarded.  We 
shall  come  nearer  to  the  energy  of  his  holy  will,  to  the  benefi- 
cence of  his  gracious  purpose,  to  the  healing  touch  of  his 
boundless  compassion,  if  we  look  for  him  in  quite  another 
quarter.  Let  memory  and  moral  imagination  fill  in  the  requi- 
site material  to  complete  this  ellipsis,  "Inasmuch  .  .  .  unto 
Me!"  When  you  have  done  that  you  will  know  where  to 
search  for  him. 

In  those  impulses  of  fidelity,   devotion,  tenderness  which 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  25 

make  the  intimacies  of  domestic  life  sweet  and  sacred ;  in  those 
integrities,  heroisms,  humane  considerations  which  redeem  com- 
mercial and  Industrial  Hf e  from  its  sordidness ;  in  that  splendid 
adherence  to  principle  and  that  subordination  of  private  inter- 
est to  the  public  good  which  lifts  political  life  to  its  rightful 
dignity;  in  those  lovely,  thoughtful,  affectionate  outgoings  of 
kindliness  which  are  aiding  the  poor,  the  needy,  the  struggling 
to  a  more  equitable  share  in  the  good  things  of  God — in  all 
these  Christ  is  born  anew  to  be  king  over  the  Hves  of  men. 
In  all  these  Christ  dwells.  If  we  "search  diligently"  we  shall 
there  find  him. 

Search  diligently  and  you  will  find  Christ  at  the  head  of  the 
best  thought,  the  purest  desire,  the  noblest  resolve  for  the 
betterment  of  the  race !  Find  that  and  you  find  him.  Cast  in 
your  lot  with  that  and  you  are  following  him.  Make  intelligent 
consecration  of  your  best  powers  to  the  lines  of  effort  pro- 
posed by  the  best  thought,  the  purest  desire,  the  noblest  re- 
solve discoverable  in  Christian  society  and  you  lay  at  his  feet 
your  gold  and  frankincense  and  myrrh. 

How  it  dignifies  and  enriches  all  our  homely  tasks  to  thus 
relate  them  to  spiritual  purpose !  The  man  with  the  hoe  intent 
upon  doing  a  lowly  but  necessary  bit  of  work  that  the  race 
may  be  fed ;  the  woman  with  the  dust  cloth  intent  upon  order, 
cleanliness  and  sound  health  for  her  loved  ones;  the  mer- 
chant with  a  desk  full  of  tiresome  orders,  invoices,  bills,  re- 
solved to  make  his  business  a  social  utility  in  meeting  the  needs 
of  mankind ;  the  teacher  harassed  and  wearied  by  thoughtless 
and  restless,  stubborn  and  stupid  immaturity,  but  determined 
to  make  some  contribution  to  a  better  type  of  personality  in 
all  those  urchins ;  the  charity  worker,  puzzled,  baffled  and  dis- 
heartened oftentimes  but  unflagging  in  the  desire  to  bring 
those  defective  and  delinquent  lives  up  to  some  worthier  state ! 

"Drudgery,"  you  say?    It  is  just  that!    But  when  we  realize 


26  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

that  it  all  shades  off  from  the  seen  and  temporal  into  that 
which  is  unseen  and  eternal;  when  we  realize  that  a  cup  of 
cold  water  given  in  the  right  mood  is  not  without  its  reward 
in  spiritual  accomplishment;  when  we  realize  that  diligent 
search  will  enable  us  to  find  him  and  the  outworking  of  his 
holy  purpose  in  all  this  unselfish  fidelity  to  duty,  then  we  shall 
be  ready  to  return  from  Bethlehem  with  that  original  Christ- 
mas congregation  "glorifying  and  praising  God"  for  the  things 
we  have  seen  and  heard  and  felt. 


V 

THE  PRESENTATION  IN  THE  TEMPLE 
Luke  2:  22-29 

How  careful  the  attention  given  to  that  ceremonial  which 
formed  the  setting  of  a  religious  life  in  the  time  of  Christ! 
Jesus  was  duly  presented  in  the  Temple.  He  suffered  the 
Jewish  rite  of  initiation.  His  mother  fulfilled  the  requirements 
of  the  Hebrew  ritual  touching  motherhood.  When  he  attained 
his  maturity  the  Master  was  baptized  by  his  servant  in  the 
River  Jordan.  And  to  a  government  whose  limitations  he 
beheld  with  clear  eyes,  Jesus  nevertheless  paid  his  tribute 
money. 

Thus  it  becometh  the  perfect  life  to  fulfill  all  righteousness. 
Custom  is  grounded  as  a  rule  in  some  measure  of  reason  and 
justice  or  it  would  not  have  become  custom.  The  well-worn 
path  is  well  worn  because  it  has  served  the  needs  of  many. 
And  in  all  the  liberty  of  his  own  matchless  spirit  Christ  would 
still  bear  witness  to  the  value  of  those  ceremonies  which  aid 
in  clothing  the  daily  round  with  sacred  meaning. 

''Let  every  soul  be  subject  to  the  higher  powers.  Render  to 
all  their  dues :  tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due :  custom  to  whom 
custom:  fear  to  whom  fear:  honor  to  whom  honor.  Owe  no 
man  anything  but  to  love  one  another."  The  full  measure  of 
liberty  which  the  conscientious  Christian,  having  escaped  the 
bondage  of  the  law,  claims  for  himself  does  not  seek  expres- 
sion in  the  avoidance  of  duty,  but  in  a  finer  form  of  obedience 
to  the  legitimate  demands  of  "all  righteousness." 

It  is  significant  that  the  intimation  of  the  approach  of  the 
infant  Messiah  came  to  the  devout  Simeon  and  Anna  as  they 

27 


28  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

waited  in  the  Temple.  The  satisfying  vision  of  spiritual  reality 
commonly  shapes  itself  with  reference  to  each  man's  dominant 
interest.  The  wise  men  in  the  East,  students  of  the  stars, 
were  led  to  Bethlehem  by  what  they  saw  in  the  sky.  The 
music-loving  shepherds  as  outdoor  men  heard  songs  in  the  air 
while  they  watched  their  flocks  by  night.  The  thirsty  woman 
at  the  well  in  Samaria  received  gladly  an  offer  of  spiritual 
satisfaction  pictured  as  "living  water."  The  Galilean  fisher- 
men saw  the  venture  and  the  mystery  of  Christian  service 
portrayed  in  that  summons  to  become  "fishers  of  men."  And 
here  the  two  aged  saints  whose  main  interest  was  devotion, 
lingering  for  worship  in  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  Temple, 
receive  the  glad  tidings  that  the  Messiah  is  being  presented 
before  the  Lord. 

"Then  Simeon  took  him  up  in  his  arms  and  blessed  God." 
It  was  the  meeting  of  age  and  of  infancy.  The  ripened  saint 
had  been  waiting  for  the  consolation  of  Israel  and  now  when 
the  time  of  his  departure  is  at  hand  he  is  permitted  to  see  the 
desire  of  the  nations.  The  long  periods  of  anticipation  and 
preparation  for  "the  Coming  One"  here  meet  and  touch  the 
advancing  ages  of  fulfillment  as  they  move  by  the  orders  of 
One  who  is  to  reign  until  he  has  put  all  enemies  under  his  feet. 

What  a  picture,  when  the  aged  man  lifted  the  young  babe 
and  gave  thanks  to  God !  "The  lingering  past  holds  the  new 
born  future  in  its  arms  singing" — and  singing  not  in  somber, 
melancholy  regret,  but  in  glad  and  prophetic  anticipation.  His 
face  is  toward  the  morning  as  he  holds  the  child  aloft  and  sees 
the  first  gleams  of  a  light  that  will  lighten  the  Gentiles  and 
become  the  glory  of  his  people  Israel. 

He  is  to  be  "set  for  the  fall  and  rising  again  of  many  in 
Israel."  The  effect  of  his  truth  will  be  to  put  down  some  of 
the  mighty  from  their  seats  and  to  exalt  them  of  low  degree. 
By  his  truer  appraisement  the  publican  standing  afar  off  con- 


THE   ONE  WHO   CAME  29 

fessing  his  unworthiness  will  go  down  to  his  house  approved 
while  the  self-confident  and  self-satisfied  Pharisee  will  come 
in  for  lasting  condemnation.  The  rough  men  of  toil  will  be- 
come apostles  of  light  while  the  privileged  sons  of  the  king- 
dom will  be  cast  into  outer  darkness.  In  the  moral  rearrange- 
ments under  the  eye  of  one  who  looks  not  on  the  outward 
appearance  but  on  the  heart  the  first  will  find  himself  last  and 
the  last  be  promoted  to  be  first. 

Under  his  benign  influence  "the  thoughts  of  many  hearts 
may  be  revealed."  Jesus  interprets  each  life  to  itself.  He 
holds  before  every  soul  a  vision  of  its  own  unrealized  possi- 
bilities. "Come  and  see  a  man  who  told  me  all  the  things  that 
ever  I  did,"  cried  the  woman  of  Samaria.  She  did  not  mean 
that  the  Master  had  recounted  all  the  sorry  performances  of 
her  disgraceful  past.  She  meant  that  he  had  revealed  to  her 
an  unsuspected  capacity  in  her  own  guilty  life  for  renewal 
and  for  growth  in  goodness  which  she  had  regarded  as  for- 
feited forever.  The  inspiring  discovery  of  every  life  to  itself 
and  the  awakening  of  impulse  for  that  high  quest  of  self- 
realization  is  one  of  the  splendid  offices  of  the  Saviour. 

It  was  because  Simeon  and  Anna  lingered  in  the  Temple 
that  this  vision  of  the  coming  Messiah  was  vouchsafed  to 
them.  The  just  and  devout  who  wait  for  the  consolation  of 
Israel  are  found  in  the  place  and  in  the  mood  where  the  mani- 
festations of  the  divine  become  natural  and  inevitable.  The 
prayerful  heart  of  the  old  man  thrilled  at  the  approach  of  the 
child.  His  own  aspirations  were  attuned  to  the  fundamental 
purposes  which  underlay  the  coming  of  the  Messiah.  When 
a  full  chord  is  struck  on  a  Steinway  Grand  in  the  salesroom 
the  corresponding  strings  on  all  the  other  pianos  perfectly 
attuned  vibrate  in  sympathy.  The  holy  and  devout  souls  of 
all  lands  and  times  thus  knit  up  in  a  mystic  communion  of 
gaints  show  themselves  capable  of  a  like  response. 


30  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

The  saints  "in  waiting"  lingering  before  God  in  thoughtful 
acts  of  worship  for  the  renewal  of  their  strength  receive  many 
an  added  manifestation  of  the  divine  helpfulness.  It  was  good 
that  the  aged  saints  were  there.  It  was  good  that  the  young 
child  was  publicly  presented  according  to  the  custom  of  his 
people.  He  received  their  recognition  and  the  added  blessings 
invoked  by  these  ripened  saints.  The  mother  kept  in  her  heart 
their  mystic  sayings  and  prophetic  words  to  be  repeated  to 
the  child  when  he  should  reach  the  years  of  moral  response. 

The  christening  of  any  child  in  the  place  of  worship  be- 
comes an  occasion  full  of  spiritual  suggestion  and  prophetic 
meaning.  This  child  too  may  be  set  for  the  fall  and  the  rising 
of  many.  This  child  too  may  interpret  many  a  life  to  itself  in 
some  high  calling  which  touches  human  interests  vitally.  The 
thoughts  of  many  hearts  may  be  revealed  through  the  finer 
service  rendered  by  this  child  in  the  years  ahead. 
,  The  presentation  of  any  child  in  the  temple  with  words  of 
Scripture,  of  consecration  and  of  prayer  sets  forth  the  deeper 
values  of  the  family  life.  The  recognition  of  God's  rights  in 
the  child;  the  public  acknowledgment  of  gratitude  to  the  au- 
thor and  giver  of  life  for  this  added  joy;  the  open  acceptance 
of  the  solemn  duties  and  responsibilities  of  parenthood;  the 
grateful  acceptance  of  the  welcome  accorded  to  this  little  life 
into  the  fellowship  of  aspiring  souls  by  the  witnessing  and 
worshiping  congregation — all  these  interests  are  worthy  of 
being  invested  with  their  full  spiritual  significance  through  the 
employment  of  appropriate  ritual. 

When  the  ceremony  had  been  performed  then  Simeon  sang 
his  "Nunc  Dimittis"  in  the  full  serenity  of  accompHshed  hope. 
"Now  let  thy  servant  depart  in  peace  for  mine  eyes  have  seen 
thy  salvation."  It  was  only  the  faintest  beginning  of  that 
august  career  which  would  change  the  moral  currents  of  his- 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  31 

tory  which  Simeon  had  seen,  but  the  promise  of  the  future 
was  there  contained. 

The  eye  of  faith  sees  already  in  the  patient  action  of  the 
sower  of  good  seed  the  ripening  harvest  which  is  four  months 
away.  The  eye  of  faith  sees  in  the  devoted  and  concerted 
action  of  the  other  seventy  disciples  who  set  forth  in  the  name 
and  in  the  power  of  their  Lord,  the  forces  of  evil  falling  like 
lightning  before  their  heroic  advance.  And  here  in  the  face 
of  a  little  child  destined  to  show  forth  the  glorious  character 
of  the  Eternal  without  lack  or  blemish,  the  eye  of  devout 
faith  beholds  already  the  great  fulfillment  which  opens  the  lips 
in  grateful  praise. 

What  a  lovely  picture  the  lesson  leaves  with  us  as  the  old 
man  singing  his  song  of  trust  lifts  high  before  us  the  child 
destined  to  reign  until  every  knee  shall  bow  before  him  in 
joyous  allegiance !  The  face  of  untried  promise  and  the  face 
of  ripened  experience  seem  to  open  vistas  toward  the  east  and 
toward  the  west. 

The  east  is  where  we  look  for  the  sunrise.  It  is  the  realm 
of  beginnings.  It  is  the  seat  of  that  which  is  fresh,  new,  un- 
worn. Three  gates  of  the  city  front  toward  the  east.  Above 
each  one  of  these  friendly  gates  is  written  a  word  of  the  Lord. 
Over  the  first,  "Suffer  the  Httle  children  to  come."  Over  the 
second,  ''Of  such  is  the  kingdom."  Over  the  third,  "A  little 
child  shall  lead  them."  And  through  those  gates  bright- faced 
boys  and  girls  are  entering  the  city  on  their  way  to  joyous, 
useful.  Christian  living. 

"And  on  the  west  three  gates,"  fronting  toward  the  sunset. 
They  look  out  upon  those  with  whom  the  day  is  far  spent — 
it  is  toward  evening.  The  heat  and  burden  of  the  day  have 
been  borne  and  the  night  is  coming  when  no  man  can  work. 
The  fresh  uncertain  promise  of  childhood  has  ripened  into  some 
sort  of  fact.    And  over  each  one  of  these  gates  is  written  like- 


32  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

wise  a  word  of  the  Lord.  Over  the  first,  "At  evening,  it  shall 
be  light."  Over  the  second,  "With  long  life  will  I  satisfy  him 
and  shew  him  my  salvation."  And  over  the  third,  "He  that 
endureth  to  the  end  shall  be  saved."  And  through  those  three 
gates  many  who  have  walked  with  him  and  worked  with  him 
these  many  years  are  entering  into  the  joy  of  their  Lord. 

The  aged  Simeon  and  the  infant  Messiah !  The  reminiscent 
but  expectant  past  holding  the  bright  promise  of  the  future  in 
its  arms  and  singing  its  glad  song  of  hope ! 


VI 

THE    BOY    IN    THE   TEMPLE 
Luke  2:  40-52 

"The  child  grew  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit,  filled  with  wis- 
dom." It  was  an  all-around  development,  the  nature  filHng  out 
on  all  sides.  Physical  efficiency  was  not  attained  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  mind  nor  did  intellectual  growth  dim  the  luster 
of  the  soul.  "He  increased  in  stature  and  in  wisdom  and  in 
favor  with  God." 

He  was  twelve  years  old  when  we  find  him  in  the  Temple. 
In  that  warmer  climate  this  might  be  equal  to  fourteen  years 
with  us.  He  had  no  halo  round  his  head — the  artists  paint 
him  so,  but  the  straightforward  men  who  wrote  the  four  Gos- 
pels never  speak  of  a  halo  because  it  was  not  there.  He  did 
not  know  everything — he  was  asking  questions  after  the  man- 
ner of  a  boy-  He  was  a  genuine  boy  growing  up  from  baby- 
hood a  cell  at  a  time,  increasing  slowly  but  steadily  in  size 
and  in  knowledge,  in  character  and  in  social  interest,  commend- 
ing himself  alike  to  the  favor  of  God  and  of  man. 

He  had  been  taken  up  from  little  Nazareth  to  Jerusalem  to 
attend  for  the  first  time  the  great  annual  Feast.  The  first 
sight  of  a  city  becomes  a  notable  experience  in  the  life  of  a 
boy.  He  saw  many  things  during  those  eventful  days  which 
he  had  never  witnessed  before.  And  when  the  caravan  with 
which  his  family  traveled  started  back  to  Nazareth  the  boy 
detached  himself  from  the  company  and  at  the  first  night's 
camp  he  was  missing.  Joseph  and  Mary  returned  to  Jeru- 
salem the  second  day  and  "after  three  days  they  found  him  in 
the  Temple." 

33 


34  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

Amid  all  the  attractions  of  the  city  the  lodestone  for  this 
boy  was  the  Temple.  Its  mysterious  appointments  and  fur- 
nishings, its  throngs  of  worshipers  "from  every  nation  under 
heaven,"  its  whitebearded  Rabbis  and  its  spiritual  suggestive- 
ness,  all  made  a  profound  impression  on  the  sensitive  nature 
of  this  boy.  His  main  interest,  his  major  study,  was  to  be 
along  the  line  of  spiritual  growth.  The  coming  events  of  his 
moral  career  cast  their  shadow  before.  He  turned  away  from 
the  busy  streets  and  the  gay  bazaars  to  ask  his  questions  in 
the  temple  of  God. 

His  presence  there  and  his  words  denote  three  attitudes 
which  are  instructive.  First,  his  attitude  toward  Mary  his 
mother.  There  is  a  note  of  reproach  in  the  words  with  which 
she  greets  him  after  the  long  search.  She  had  been  anxious 
and  she  utters  her  censure  upon  his  course,  "Son,  why  hast 
thou  thus  dealt  with  us?"  His  assertion  of  independence,  his 
taking  of  the  initiative,  brought  a  feeling  of  pain  which  all 
fathers  and  mothers  fully  understand. 

The  boy's  answer  holds  two  words  which  show  the  dawn  of 
the  sense  of  personal  responsibility, — "I  must."  He  felt  that 
he  must  be  about  his  Father's  business.  Here  was  a  developing 
moral  consciousness  taking  that  life  into  its  own  keeping  as 
ultimately  responsible  for  it.  He  must  begin  to  make  decisions 
and  to  abide  the  results  of  them. 

The  mother  cannot  forever  choose  the  boy's  food,  determine 
his  habits,  select  his  associates,  direct  his  activities,  as  she  did 
when  she  carried  him  a  babe  on  her  breast.  She  does  not 
desire  this,  for  such  prolonged  tutelage  would  rob  her  of  the 
joy  that  "a  man  is  born  into  the  world."  She  faces  the  fact 
that  the  boy  must  learn  to  take  his  own  life  into  his  own  keep- 
ing. This  new  self-assertion  contained  food  for  reflection 
and,  "Mary  kept  all  these  things  in  her  heart." 

It  did  not  involve  an  absolute  break.    "Jesus  went  down  to 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  35 

Nazareth  and  was  subject  unto  them."  There  was  a  continu- 
ance of  that  gracious  obedience  which  had  been  their  joy.  But 
with  it  went  the  acceptance  by  the  parents  of  the  fact  that  the 
boy  had  now  a  mind  and  a  moral  nature  to  be  shaped  by  the 
determinations  of  his  own  will.  There  had  grown  up  within 
him  that  which  said  "I"  in  clear  consciousness  of  independent 
personality;  and  a  further  something,  a  moral  sense,  which 
said  "must."  And  with  this  also  there  had  come  an  unfolding 
appreciation  of  his  share  in  the  religious  life  of  the  world  as 
he  voiced  his  sense  of  participation  in  his  "Father's  business." 

The  utter  absence  of  flippancy  or  conceit  clothes  the  incident 
with  wondrous  beauty.  Sometimes  when  a  boy  breaks  the  halter 
strap  and  bursts  through  the  barn  door  in  order  to  escape  into 
the  open  field,  it  does  not  indicate  the  dawning  of  personality ; 
it  simply  indicates  that  he  has  an  attack  of  reckless  conceit. 
Like  measles  it  is  ugly  and  painful  while  it  lasts,  yet  under 
proper  treatment  he  will  recover.  But  in  this  incident  in  the 
life  of  the  boy  Christ  we  have  the  assertion  of  individual 
responsibility  chastened  and  directed  by  tender  regard  for  the 
wishes  of  the  parents. 

In  the  adolescent  period  a  stupid  insistence  upon  some  par- 
ticular pattern  of  goodness  which  God  never  intended  for  that 
particular  boy,  may  prove  fatal  to  growth.  Ignorant  dogma- 
tism may  work  harm  unspeakable  to  the  interests  of  life  as 
surely  as  does  the  careless  indifference  which  allows  the  boy 
the  final  decision  as  to  how  he  will  use  his  Sundays,  where  he 
will  spend  his  evenings,  what  sort  of  fellows  shall  be  his  asso- 
ciates. The  boy  whose  judgment  on  any  business  proposition 
would  not  be  rated  as  worth  a  tuppence  is  sometimes  allowed 
to  ignorantly  shape  those  years  which  make  or  break  him  as  a 
man.  1  -     :  ':'    '  ' 

Delicate  and  difficult  is  the  task  of  bringing  sufficient  pres- 
sure of  wholesome  influence  to  bear  so  that  the  life  may  be 


36  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

glided  aright  and  yet  not  so  much  as  to  cripple  or  force  the 
growth  which  should  claim  its  share  in  that  freedom  which  is 
man's  distinctive  right.  Difficult  indeed — the  fine  art  of  form- 
ing character  makes  by  comparison  all  the  other  arts  seem 
coarse.  Raphael's  task  in  spreading  his  high  conception  of  a 
divine  child  on  canvas  in  the  Sistine  Madonna  was  easy  com- 
pared with  the  task  of  fathers  and  mothers,  teachers  and  pas- 
tors, when  they  attempt  to  show  results  in  flesh  and  blood 
worthy  to  be  enrolled  as  "the  children  of  God.'* 

In  the  second  place  his  presence  indicated  his  attitude 
toward  his  instructors.  "They  found  him  in  the  Temple  in 
the  midst  of  the  doctors  hearing  them  and  asking  them  ques- 
tions." How  true  to  life  it  all  is !  The  boyish  spirit  of  inquiry 
energetically  asking  questions!  I  once  sat  behind  a  mother 
with  her  boy  on  the  train  and  he  asked  a  hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  questions  between  Boston  and  Worcester — I  think  that 
was  the  number,  although  the  engine  whistled  at  one  point  and 
I  may  have  lost  count  while  the  boy  kept  rolling  up  the  score 
with  his  steady  flow  of  inquiry. 

The  boy  in  the  temple  was  not  asking  foolish  questions — 
"the  people  were  astonished  at  his  understanding."  The  ques- 
tions which  spring  from  a  genuine  interest  in  the  problems 
which  confront  boy  life  are  everywhere  welcome.  The  healthy 
boy  commonly  approaches  life  with  an  insistent  interrogation 
point  in  his  hand  and  it  is  for  maturer  wisdom  to  give  him  an 
honest,  useful  reply. 

The  boy  is  about  his  father's  business  when  he  addresses 
himself  inquiringly  to  those  problems  and  mysteries  which 
impinge  upon  his  unfolding  energy.  What  a  frightful  wrong 
where  he  is  allowed  to  grope  in  darkness  or  be  guided  by  the 
blind  or  the  evil  into  the  nearest  ditch !  The  persistent  appeal 
of  unfolding  life  feeling  its  way  toward  the  level  of  mature, 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  37 

responsible  existence  should  elicit  the  best  the  world  has  in 
sympathetic  interest  and  wise  guidance. 

It  has  not  pleased  the  Almighty  to  create  boys  with  any  great 
talent  for  keeping  still.  The  actions  are  oftentimes  nothing 
but  meaningless  motion.  The  questions  are  numerous  and 
trying,  but  they  serve  to  set  the  door  ajar  for  the  entrance  of 
the  great  truths  he  is  to  live  by.  If  our  own  wider  experience 
can  meet  that  restless  eagerness  and  give  it  a  bias,  causing  the 
boy  to  think  hard  upon  whatsoever  things  are  straight  and 
square,  true  and  clean,  reputable  and  likeable,  and  to  make 
them  an  everlasting  personal  possession,  then  the  spiritual 
results  will  be  beyond  estimate.  Foundations  will  be  laid  on 
which  will  stand  pillars  in  the  temple  of  God  to  go  no  more 
out. 

And  finally  his  action  manifested  his  attitude  toward  God. 
The  Authorized  and  the  Revised  versions  respectively  bring 
out  the  twofold  thought  in  the  mind  of  the  boy  in  the  Temple. 
He  uttered  his  sense  of  claim  upon  the  Father's  attention — "I 
must  be  in  my  Father's  house."  He  voiced  his  sense  of  per- 
sonal responsibility — *T  must  be  about  my  Father's  business." 
The  personal  interest  of  the  Father  in  the  child  and  the  per- 
sonal obligation  of  the  child  to  the  Father,  here  are  the  two 
fundamental  elements  in  all  religious  life. 

The  boy  who  is  made  to  feel  that  he  is  forever  in  the  way 
at  home  when  older  people  wish  to  talk  or  to  read;  who  is 
made  to  feel  in  church  that  religion  is  only  for  grave  theo- 
logians or  for  good  little  girls,  may  be  pardoned  for  possessing 
but  a  dim  consciousness  of  the  Father's  personal  interest  in 
him.  He  has  not  been  made  at  home  in  his  Father's  house. 
And  the  boy  who  is  made  to  feel  that  the  conduct  of  life  be- 
longs altogether  to  "grown-ups,"  that  no  particular  value 
attaches  to  his  immature  powers,  may  be  forgiven  for  a 
defective  sense  of  personal  responsibility. 


38  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

After  six  days  we  find  many  a  boy  in  the  temple.  The  boys 
are  there  Sunday  after  Sunday  looking  and  listening.  They 
are  thinking  out  their  problems  in  a  certain  presence  and  atmos- 
phere. They  are  deciding  under  the  influence  of  august  sur- 
roundings what  shall  be  the  way  of  life  for  them.  If  somehow 
we  can  lift  clearly  before  their  wondering  eyes  the  Master 
of  men,  he  will  surely  draw  them  unto  himself  that  they  may 
be  forever  in  the  Father's  house  and  about  the  Father's 
business. 


VII 

THE    MINISTRY    OF   JOHN    THE    BAPTIST 
Ad  ark  I'  1-8.    Luke  3:1-20 

What  a  grim  list  of  names  confronts  us  when  the  door 
swings  back  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter.  *'Now  in  the  fif- 
teenth year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Caesar,  Pontius  Pilate  be- 
ing governor  of  Judea,  and  Herod  being  tetrarch  of  Galilee, 
Annas  and  Caiaphas  being  the  high  priests,  the  word  of  God 
came  unto  John  in  the  wilderness."  Tiberius  Caesar,  Pontius 
Pilate,  Herod  and  Caiaphas,  these  were  the  men  who  held  sway ! 
Hold  these  four  names  before  your  eyes !  Ponder  their  asso- 
ciations and  you  will  understand  why  the  word  of  this  stern 
prophet  was  indeed  the  word  with  the  bark  on.  When  we  read 
the  time  of  day  from  this  four-faced  clock  of  poHtical  history 
we  can  well  believe  that  the  man  in  camel's  skin  with  a  leather 
girdle  about  his  loins  was  the  man  for  the  hour. 

The  source  of  the  success  which  was  achieved  by  that  stern 
ministry  is  indicated  in  a  single  statement — "the  word  of  God 
came  unto  John."  His  power  lay  in  his  personal  experience 
of  divine  truth.  His  labors  rested  on  the  sure  foundation  of 
the  divine  initiative.  He  came  not  leaning  upon  his  own  brief 
understanding  of  human  need  or  moved  merely  by  a  vague 
wish  to  undertake  the  ethical  culture  of  his  generation — he 
was  called,  commissioned,  empowered  to  prepare  the  way  of 
the  Lord  and  to  make  straight  paths  before  the  feet  of  the 
divine  purpose. 

The  note  of  high,  clear  confidence  appropriate  to  an  ac- 
credited messenger  delivering  that  which  he  has  been  given 
has  fallen  out  of  the  utterance  of  many  a  modern  prophet. 

39 


40  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

He  does  not  speak  about  the  sins  and  the  needs  of  men,  about 
the  truth  and  the  grace  of  God  as  one  having  authority.  He 
speaks  rather  as  one  of  the  Scribes  reciting  a  well-worn  tradi- 
tion. His  deliverance  may  be  bright  and  wise  but  it  lacks  that 
heavenly  something,  that  quality  of  a  "Thus  saith  the  Lord" 
which  carries  on  its  face  its  own  divine  credential. 

The  official  strut  and  pompous  self-esteem  of  the  ecclesiastic, 
feeling  the  full  weight  of  his  gown  and  bands,  is  only  a  weak 
caricature  of  the  responsible  servant  of  God  endued  with 
power  from  above.  The  silly  imitation  comes  in  for  contempt, 
but  people  stand  ready  to  give  heed  to  the  man  who  has  re- 
ceived at  first  hand  a  word  of  the  Lord  which  he  must  deliver 
under  penalty  of  displeasing  the  One  whose  favor  constitutes 
his  very  life. 

The  limitations  of  this  stern  prophet  of  righteousness  are 
not  blinked.  He  "came  neither  eating  nor  drinking" — he  did 
not  build  his  life  into  normal  association  and  saving  fellowship 
with  the  common  interests.  He  was  slow  to  recognize  in  the 
patient,  merciful  ministry  of  Christ,  the  true  Messiah.  John 
had  pictured  the  Coming  One  as  laying  his  ax  at  the  root  of 
the  tree,  as  visiting  the  scenes  of  human  activity  fan  in  hand 
to  purge  the  floor  and  burn  up  the  worthless  elements  of 
human  society  with  unquenchable  fire.  He  was  in  doubt  as 
to  whether  Jesus  was  the  Christ  or  whether  he  should  wait 
for  another. 

The  general  method  of  John's  life  was  such  that  while  he 
outranked  all  his  predecessors  according  to  the  generous  esti- 
mate of  Jesus,  nevertheless  in  both  spirit  and  privilege,  "He 
that  is  least  in  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  greater  than  he." 
To  go  apart  from  the  common  pursuits,  roughly  dressed, 
meagerly  subsisting  on  locusts  or  wild  honey  and  to  utter  the 
sternest  condemnation  upon  the  evil  doing  of  men,  may  exhibit 
a  striking  indifference  to  human  pleasures  and  reveal  a  pur- 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  41 

pose  of  wrought-iron.  But  to  go  about  eating  and  drinking, 
building  one's  influence  into  an  actual,  normal  order  of  life, 
diffusing  sympathy  and  giving  nurture  to  even  the  feeblest 
beginnings  of  right  life,  this  is  a  higher,  a  harder  and  a  holier 
task.  The  greater  man  is  the  man  who  has  caught  the  method 
and  spirit  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven. 

We  recognize  all  this  yet  we  find  something  worthy  of  the 
highest  admiration  in  the  whole-hearted  way  in  which  John 
gave  himself  to  the  subordinate  and  preparatory  work  of  clear- 
ing the  ground  for  the  laying  of  new  foundations.  He  was 
ready  to  become  merely  "a  voice"  if  only  he  might  cry,  "Make 
ready  the  way  of  the  Lord."  He  would  gladly  acquiesce  in 
an  order  of  progress  where  his  work  would  "decrease,"  if 
thereby  the  reign  of  the  Christ  spirit  might  "increase." 

His  main  message  may  be  summed  up  in  the  word,  "Repent." 
He  preached  a  repentance  which  does  not  mean  a  mere  suc- 
cession of  weak  and  wet  sobs  over  one's  sins — it  means  an 
"about  face."  It  calls  for  a  change  of  purpose.  It  involves 
the  making  of  all  crooked  paths  straight  and  the  rough  ways 
of  life  smooth.  It  calls  for  changes  radical  and  laborious  like 
the  grading  and  filling  on  a  mountain  road  in  preparation  for 
the  coming  of  royalty.  John  delivered  his  message  in  concrete 
terms  to  make  clear  the  fact  that  true  repentance  does  not  rest 
in  personal  and  hidden  remorse — it  must  seek  expression  and 
bring  forth  fruit  in  altered  conduct  that  all  flesh  may  see  the 
salvation  of  God. 

When  he  preached  this  definite,  clear-cut  doctrine  of  re- 
pentance it  "found  men,"  as  we  say,  "where  they  lived."  He 
knew  how  to  address  his  communications  so  that  they  would 
reach  their  destination.  The  multitudes  who  came  to  hear 
him  as  he  preached  in  the  wilderness  did  not  go  away  saying: 
"Beautiful  sermon."  "Splendid  effort."  "One  of  his  best." 
They  came  to  him,  saying,  "What  then  shall  we  do  ?" 


42  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

He  gave  them  a  straight  answer.  His  ''counsels  to  peni- 
tents" were  clear  and  direct  like  his  original  summons  to  "about 
face."  He  told  the  men  who  had  more  food  and  more  clothing 
than  they  actually  needed  to  minister  to  the  needs  of  those  who 
lacked.  He  told  the  tax  collectors  to  show  their  penitence  by 
forsaking  all  manner  of  extortion.  He  told  the  soldiers  who 
made  trouble  by  foraging,  by  being  quarrelsome  and  by  their 
insurrections  to  show  forth  their  new  mood  and  purpose  by 
doing  violence  to  none,  by  making  no  false  accusations  and 
by  being  content  with  their  pay. 

He  met  every  man  at  the  front  door  of  his  own  particular 
interest  and  failing.  He  pointed  a  straight  forefinger  in- 
dicating the  line  each  man  was  to  take  as  he  began  his  moral 
advance  in  preparation  for  the  coming  of  him  who  was  to  rule 
all  these  interests  of  daily  life.  In  the  expression  of  penitence 
sobs  are  cheap  and  tears  are  low-priced.  But  deeds  of 
restitution  and  new  modes  of  life  are  above  rubies. 

John  was  a  hater  of  shams.  When  he  saw  a  thoughtless 
multitude  frightened  by  the  announcement  of  an  approaching 
judgment,  hurrying  out  to  be  baptized  as  a  kind  of  saving 
form,  a  ceremonial  substitute  for  right  living,  a  friendly 
shadow  to  stand  between  them  and  the  impending  crisis,  he 
gave  them  a  scorching  rebuke.  He  likened  them  to  the  scared 
vipers  scurrying  through  the  grass  as  the  dry  stubble  of  the 
Jordan  valley  burned  close  behind  them.  He  told  them  to 
bring  forth  "repentance-fruit" — that  is  to  say  new  courses  of 
conduct  indicative  of  their  desire  to  stand  in  just  relations 
with  the  God  of  righteousness. 

He  gave  a  stinging  rebuke  to  the  complacent  Pharisees  and 
Sadducees  who  stiffly  turned  down  his  summons  to  newness 
of  life,  saying,  "We  have  Abraham  to  our  father."  He  bluntly 
reminded  them  that  Jews  merely  as  Jews  are  nothing.  God 
is  able,  if  need  be,  to  make  Jews  out  of  stones.    He  could  raise 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  43 

up  children  to  Abraham  out  of  the  rocks  in  the  street.  The 
real  objects  of  God's  interest  are  righteous  men.  These  he 
cannot  make  out  of  stones  for  character  is  made  only  where 
free  moral  agents  co-operate  with  God's  grace  and  truth  for 
its  production. 

In  his  every  utterance  this  preacher  in  the  wilderness 
brought  out  the  truth  that  real  religion  is  not  form  or  cere- 
mony ;  it  does  not  rest  upon  the  accidents  of  race  or  birth ;  it  is 
not  best  expressed  in  sobbing  emotion  nor  in  frightened  re- 
morse. The  question  as  to  the  reahty  and  worth  of  a  man's 
religion  turns  at  last  upon  his  fruitfulness,  upon  what  grows 
out  of  him  steadily  and  evenly  as  he  moves  ahead  in  his 
appointed  calling. 

The  revival  of  religion  needed  today  to  prepare  for  the 
fuller  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man  into  our  earthly  life  and  to 
secure  that  richer  baptism  of  all  our  relationships  in  the  divine 
spirit,  is  a  revival  strongly  ethical  and  genuinely  social  rather 
than  ecclesiastical  or  emotional.  Let  the  call  issue  north, 
south,  east  and  west,  for  an  "about  face"  toward  righteousness 
in  the  common  relations  of  every  day  life !  Then  all  flesh 
may  see  the  salvation  of  God ! 

This  devoted  forerunner  never  allowed  his  hearers  to  forget 
that  he  was  a  mere  finger-board  pointing  ahead  to  Another. 
When  "the  people  were  in  expectation  and  all  men  reasoned 
in  their  hearts  concerning  John  whether  haply  he  were  the 
Christ,"  he  promptly  turned  their  thought  away  from  himself 
that  he  might  direct  it  to  the  Coming  One.  He  likened  his 
humble  office  to  that  of  the  house  servant  who  meets  his 
master  and  unlooses  his  sandals  as  he  enters  the  door.  John 
baptized  with  water  as  a  symbol  of  the  moral  cleanHness 
attainable  through  repentance,  but  he  pointed  ahead  to  One 
who  would  baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost  affording  men  the 


44  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

spiritual  energy  demanded  for  patient  continuance  in  well- 
doing. 

We  find  one  common  characteristic  attitude  in  all  these 
Hebrew  prophets — ^they  are  all  pointing  ahead  as  if  they  would 
say  with  the  patriarch  of  old,  "It  is  not  in  me ;  God  shall  give 
the  answer  of  peace."  Isaiah  and  Micah,  Malachi  and  John 
the  Baptist  all  pointing  ahead  to  "a  Coming  One"!  At  last 
One  came  who  said,  plainly,  "I  am  he."  And  when  penitent 
men  were  made  clean  by  the  word  which  he  had  spoken  unto 
them,  he  breathed  on  them  until  they  received  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Thus  men  are  brought  at  last  into  the  fullness  of  the  blessing 
of  the  gospel  of  peace  for  whose  coming  the  ministry  of  John 
prepared  the  way. 


VIII  m 

THE    TESTING   OF    NEW-FOUND    STRENGTH 
Mark  i:  p-13.     Matt.  4:  i-ii 

When  Jesus  was  baptized  in  the  river  Jordan  it  marked  a 
spiritual  crisis.  Whether  that  was  the  beginning  of  a  full- 
fledged  consciousness  of  his  messianic  mission  we  may  not 
feel  sure — it  was  certainly  a  unique  hour  in  his  personal  de- 
velopment. The  heavens  were  open  and  the  Spirit  descended 
upon  him  like  a  dove.  The  sky  became  vocal  and  he  heard 
the  divine  voice  say,  "This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am 
well  pleased."  The  rugged  prophet  of  righteousness  who  had 
served  as  a  forerunner  bowed  in  humble  reverence  before  the 
Light  which  he  saw  shining  in  a  dark  place. 

''Then"  the  narrative  says — in  the  hour  of  wondrous  uplift 
and  quickened  spiritual  consciousness — "was  Jesus  led  up  by 
the  Spirit  into  the  wilderness  to  be  tempted  of  the  devil." 
With  that  open  heaven  before  him,  with  the  divine  voice 
sounding  in  his  ears  and  the  mighty  baptism  of  the  Spirit 
possessing  his  soul,  he  was  hurried  away  and  for  forty  days 
he  saw  nothing  but  the  desert  and  the  devil  and  the  wild 
beasts. 

"Forty  days !"  We  are  familiar  with  the  use  of  the  word 
"forty"  in  Scripture  where  the  exact  number  was  not  known. 
We  often  say,  "I  have  told  you  forty  times" — meaning  an 
indefinite  number  of  times.  When  the  children  of  Israel  drew 
near  to  their  destination  their  leader  said  to  them,  "Remember 
all  the  way  which  the  Lord  thy  God  led  thee  these  forty  years 
in  the  wilderness."  When  Moses  went  to  the  top  of  Sinai, 
"He  was  there  with  the  Lord  forty  days  and  forty  nights." 

45 


46  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

When  Elijah  in  the  hour  of  his  discouragement  had  enjoyed 
the  gracious  ministry  of  God's  messenger,  "He  arose  and  went 
in  the  stren^  of  that  meat  forty  days  and  forty  nights  unto 
Horeb."  When  Jonah  uttered  his  warning  to  the  Ninevites 
he  cried,  "Yet  forty  days  and -Nineveh  shall  be  overthrown." 
In  every  case  the  period  of  time  was  indefinite  in  the  mind  of 
the  writer. 

"He  was  there  in  the  wilderness  forty  days  tempted  of 
Satan."  How  long  did  this  temptation  of  Jesus  continue? 
His  time  of  trial  too  was  for  an  indefinite  period.  I  have  a 
feeling  that  the  testing  of  his  strength  reached  all  the  way  to 
Calvary.  He  was  tempted  in  all  points  and  from  all  sides,  like 
as  we  are.  "He  learned  obedience  by  the  things  which  he  suf- 
fered." His  ability  to  say,  "Not  my  will  but  thine  be  done," 
in  that  supreme  hour  was  an  achievement  rather  than  an 
original  endowment.  He  faced  and  fought  the  enemies  of  the 
divine  purpose  not  in  one  single  dramatic  experience,  as  a 
hasty  reading  of  this  passage  might  indicate,  but  throughout 
his  whole  career  as  he  bore  witness  to  the  truth  and  accom- 
pHshed  the  will  of  him  who  sent  him. 

It  is  the  common  lot  and  the  Son  of  Man  was  not  exempt. 
Hard  upon  the  dramatic  experience,  the  inspiration  of  some 
moment  of  high  privilege  lifting  us  to  the  very  mountain  top, 
comes  the  necessity  for  moral  testing  and  the  obligation  for 
patient  effort  in  the  dusty  plain  below. 

The  real  test  of  the  final  worth  and  validity  of  any  high 
experience  comes  when  we  inquire  as  to  whether  it  can  be 
carried  from  the  mount  of  inspiration  out  upon  the  plain  of 
useful  achievement  and  on  into  the  deserts  of  difficulty.  Will 
the  sense  of  an  open  heaven,  a  descending  spirit  and  the  feel- 
ing of  divine  approval  endure  for  forty  days,  for  forty  years, 
for  an  indefinite  period,  enabling  us  in  the  strength  of  that 
meat  to  put  down  evil  under  our  feet?    The  ultimate  value  of 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  47 

any  high  mood  is  revealed  as  it  finds  or  fails  to  find  expression 
in  those  terms  of  useful  achievement  which  have  to  do  with 
the  coming  of  the  Kingdom  of  God. 

The  temptations  are  here  attributed  to  a  Tempter.  There 
was  no  taint  of  evil  in  the  Master  to  become  an  original  source 
of  temptation.  There  had  been  no  previous  sins  to  furnish 
further  impulse  toward  evil.  He  was  solicited  by  that  which 
was  no  real  part  of  himself.  We  find  a  general  summary  of 
the  moral  history  of  Christ  in  the  fourth  gospel,  "The  prince 
of  this  world  cometh  and  he  hath  nothing  in  me." 

But  it  was  a  real  temptation.  The  fact  that  he  did  not  yield 
takes  nothing  from  the  force  of  the  actual  solicitation  to 
wrong-doing.  The  man  who  successfully  resists  temptation 
may  feel  the  force  of  the  temptation  more  than  does  the  weak 
man  who  readily  succumbs.  In  the  latter  case  the  will  gives 
way  before  the  recognition  of  the  complete  strength  of  the 
solicitation  becomes  a  fact  of  consciousness,  just  as  the  man 
who  successfully  resists  any  kind  of  "pull"  feels  the  power  of  it 
more  than  does  the  man  who  allows  himself  to  be  drawn  along. 
The  real  measure  of  useful  resistance  in  our  moral  material 
can  best  be  determined  by  what  it  sustains  without  breaking, 
and  the  strength  of  evil's  thrust  can  be  similarly  computed. 

We  have  here  apparently  an  account  of  what  Christ  himself 
thought  of  certain  crises  in  his  own  inner  life.  It  is  plain  that 
no  one  was  present  for  he  was  "alone  with  the  wild  beasts," 
suggestive  of  the  desolate  scene  of  his  moral  conflict.  He  gave 
to  his  disciples  this  vivid,  pictorial  account  of  his  own  spiritual 
struggles. 

He  was  tempted  to  make  use  of  his  exceptional  endowments 
to  further  his  own  interests  without  reference  to  the  Father's 
will.  "If  thou  be  the  Son  of  God,  command  that  these  stones 
be  made  bread."  He  would  upon  occasion  use  his  exceptional 
power  to  provide  a  hungry  multitude  with  food,  and  would 


48  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

share  their  food  with  them.  He  would  not  in  selfish  fashion 
Hft  himself  alone  beyond  the  reach  of  need  by  the  use  of  his 
exceptional  powers. 

"H  thou  be" — Jesus  does  not  argue  the  matter  nor  reply  to 
the  challenge  by  some  piece  of  magic.  He  will  commit  his 
own  needs  into  the  care  of  the  Father  by  an  unfaltering 
obedience  to  his  holy  will.  He  will  live  by  all  the  great  words 
which  proceed  out  of  the  mouth  of  God,  faith,  hope,  love, 
believing  that  all  the  things  which  the  Father  knoweth  that  he 
has  need  of  will  thus  be  added  to  him. 

Jesus  was  tempted  to  win  attention  and  a  following  by  a 
clever  short  cut.  He  was  shown  the  swift  results  to  be 
achieved  by  casting  himself  down  unhurt  from  the  pinnacle 
of  the  temple.  The  naming  of  "the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple" 
rather  than  some  high  cliff  in  the  wilderness  is  significant.  The 
greatest  obstacle  he  would  encounter  in  his  work  would  be 
the  dullness  and  bigotry  of  the  Jewish  Church.  If  he  could 
only  leap  unhurt  from  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple  into  the 
midst  of  the  priests,  what  a  master  stroke  it  would  be!  He 
would  at  once  enlist  their  interest  and  carry  their  confidence 
by  storm! 

But  he  refuses  to  court  danger  in  order  to  be  miraculously 
rescued  from  peril.  He  will  not  tempt  God.  He  turns  away 
from  the  whole  quixotic  habit  of  disdaining  the  considerations 
of  prudence  and  common  sense  in  the  supposed  interest  of  a 
more  complete  faith  in  the  supernatural.  The  hearts  filled 
with  disappointment  over  the  collapse  of  the  "Shiloh"  enter- 
prise or  by  the  sorry  outcome  of  the  Dowie  movement  and  the 
parents  who  bring  upon  themselves  tragedies  of  sorrow  by 
flaunting  their  spiritual  ecstasies  in  the  face  of  all  the  counsels 
offered  by  competent  knowledge,  would  do  well  to  read  again 
the  words  of  the  Master  regarding  presumptuous  confidence. 

The  deyil  was  either  clumsy  or  wickedly  artful  in  his  use  of 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  49 

Scripture  on  this  occasion.  The  ancient  promise  which  he 
cited  reads,  "He  shall  give  his  angels  charge  over  thee  to  keep 
thee  in  all  thy  ways."  In  all  thy  ways — exactly !  But  to  cast 
one's  self  down  from  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple  in  showy 
fashion  "is  not  going  'in  one's  ways'  but  quite  out  of  them." 
It  involves  such  a  radical  departure  from  the  line  of  duty  as 
to  forfeit  all  claim  upon  God's  providential  care.  If  this 
clumsy  use  of  Scripture  is  the  best  that  the  spirit  of  evil  can 
do,  then  the  devil  had  better  stick  to  his  last. 

Jesus  was  tempted  to  gain  a  sweeping  success  by  compromise 
with  evil.  The  subtlety  and  the  force  of  this  temptation  lies 
in  the  fact  that  the  suggestion  holds  a  modicum  of  truth.  By 
moral  compromises  which  may  not  seem  serious  at  their  in- 
ception, immediate  and  impressive  victories  are  won.  The 
devil  magnified  his  jurisdiction  somewhat  in  offering  to  turn 
over  "all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world"  on  condition  that  the 
Master  should  enter  into  some  satisfactory  arrangement  with 
him,  yet  the  power  of  compromise  is  beyond  all  question 
mighty. 

But  kingdoms  which  are  won  by  "falling  down  and  wor- 
shiping" the  devil,  by  the  lowering  of  aim,  by  the  cheapening 
of  ideals,  by  the  dilution  of  moral  values,  are  not  susceptible 
of  being  made  "Kingdoms  of  the  Lord  and  of  his  Christ." 
There  are  victories  so  dearly  purchased  as  to  become  defeats. 
In  the  furtherance  of  the  great  interests  which  Christ  had  in 
mind  right  method  is  imperative.  "Worship  the  Lord  thy 
God  and  him  only  serve !"  The  redemption  of  all  those  fields 
of  effort  upon  which  he  was  invited  to  cast  his  eyes  and  the 
conquest  of  all  human  interests  by  the  mastery  of  moral  pur- 
pose cannot  be  had  on  any  easier  terms. 

We  do  not  think  of  the  Temptation  as  having  been  an  out- 
ward, visible  or  audible  transaction.  If  the  motion  picture 
man  had  been  there  his  wonderful  camera  would  have  recorded 


50  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

none  of  the  movements  indicated  in  the  narrative.  If  the 
sensitive  disc  of  the  phonograph  had  been  within  hearing  dis- 
tance it  would  have  registered  nothing  of  this  conversation 
between  Christ  and  the  powers  of  darkness.  But  if  those  who 
have  eyes  to  see,  ears  to  hear  and  hearts  to  understand  had 
been  present,  they  would  have  witnessed  a  struggle  where  the 
supreme  soul  in  history  was  wrestling  not  against  flesh 
and  blood  but  against  principalities  and  powers,  against  the 
rulers  of  dark  suggestion,  against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high 
places.  And  they  would  also  have  beheld  a  spiritual  victory 
and  ministering  angels  rejoicing  with  him  who  overcame. 


IX 

THE    CALL   OF   THE   FIRST    DISCIPLES 
Mark  I'  14-28.    Luke  5;  i-ii 

How  many  of  you  in  your  journeyings  about  England  have 
been  on  the  southwest  coast  at  the  little  fishing  villages  of 
Lynmouth,  Clovelly  and  Ilfracombe.  They  lie  off  the  turn- 
pike. Thomas  Cook  &  Son  have  not  yet  effaced  the  simplicity 
of  the  life  there.  You  pass  along  the  shore  and  see  wrinkled, 
weatherbeaten  fishermen,  salty  as  dried  codfish,  "mending 
their  nets." 

If  we  could  get  the  stained  glass  windows,  the  holy  paintings 
and  the  pious  imaginings  of  the  picture-books  out  of  our 
minds,  we  should  see  something  like  that  in  this  passage.  The 
fishermen  of  Capernaum  and  of  Clovelly  are  far  apart  in 
miles  but  not  in  kind.  The  men  Jesus  saw  and  summoned  to 
be  his  disciples  were  not  fancy  saints  with  halos  round  their 
heads— they  were  plain,  rough,  unspoiled,  outdoor  folk  such 
as  we  find  on  the  southwest  coast  of  England.  As  he  passed 
along  he  saw  two  such  men,  mending  their  nets. 

Their  homely  employment  looked  back  and  it  looked  ahead. 
The  nets  had  seen  service;  they  had  been  torn  by  use.  The 
rents  were  service  stripes  on  these  soldiers  of  the  sea.  The 
two  men  were  putting  in  fresh,  stout  twine  to  repair  the  dam- 
age done  by  hard  usage  in  useful  accomplishment.  And  their 
action  was  in  itself  a  prophecy — the  nets  were  to  be  taken  out 
and  used  again  to  catch  more  fish. 

When  the  Lord  calls  a  man  to  an  important  task  he  com- 
monly chooses  a  busy  man.  He  prefers  a  man  who  is  on  his 
feet  ready  for  action.     Gideon  was  threshing  and  Elisha  was 

51 


52  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

plowing  when  they  were  called  to  be  leaders  in  Israel.  Peter 
was  fishing  and  Matthew  was  collecting  customs  when  they 
were  summoned  to  be  disciples.  "If  you  want  a  thing  done,  go 
to  a  man  who  is  busy."  The  professionally  "leisure  class"  are 
commonly  found  "merely  killing  time  at  enormous  expense." 
The  busy  people,  the  men  who  wear  their  habits  of  useful 
action  as  naturally  as  they  wear  their  clothes,  are  the  men  to 
whom  Jesus  makes  his  appeal  for  helpers. 

This  first  group  of  four  was  made  up  from  two  pairs  of 
brothers.  Jesus  would  have  the  natural  relationships  find  their 
deeper  consecration  and  their  higher  glory  in  a  common  devo- 
tion to  the  interests  of  his  Kingdom.  He  would  utilize  and 
ennoble  "the  spirit  of  comradeship"  already  existent  as  a 
further  asset  in  moral  service.  And  the  fact  that  "James  and 
John,  the  sons  of  Zebedee,  were  partners  with  Simon"  served 
still  further  to  knit  up  these  lives  in  a  common  interest  as  the 
Master  enlisted  them  for  a  broader  enterprise. 

He  couched  his  appeal  for  this  higher  form  of  service  in 
terms  made  familiar  by  long  employment.  "Follow  me  and  I 
will  make  you  fishers  of  men."  He  would  utilize  those  in- 
stinctive reactions  established  by  years  of  habit  for  spiritual 
ends.  The  patience,  the  spirit  of  faith,  the  skill  and  the  tact, 
the  readiness  to  face  the  uncertainties  of  a  calling  which 
reaches  down  into  the  realm  of  mystery,  all  this  would  have 
value  in  those  men  who  were  to  do  business  in  the  great  waters 
of  spiritual  effort. 

Jesus  would  interpret  every  man's  calHng  in  terms  of  spir- 
itual value  while  he  continues  in  it,  and  he  would  have  the 
man  bring  out  of  it  the  effectiveness  consequent  upon  training 
and  experience  to  be  invested  in  a  service  more  directly  re- 
ligious. From  henceforth  the  very  qualities  which  had  enabled 
Simon  and  Andrew  to  become  prosperous  fishermen,  would 
enable  them  to  "take  men."     It  is  related  that  one  of  them 


THE   ONE  WHO   CAME  53 

afterward  cast  a  net  into  the  sea  of  life  as  it  flowed  in  upon 
the  shores  of  Judea  at  the  Feast  of  Pentecost  so  efficiently  as 
to  add  to  the  number  of  those  who  were  being  saved  three 
thousand  souls  in  a  single  day. 

The  ready  response  of  these  busy  men  testifies  to  the  fact 
that  "his  word  was  with  power."  How  swiftly  the  action 
moves  in  the  account !  "They  were  fishers."  "Jesus  said  unto 
them,  Come  ye  after  me."  "They  forsook  their  nets."  "They 
left  their  father  Zebedee  in  the  ship  and  went  after  him."  At 
the  call  of  Christ  they  left  something  which  was  not  evil  but 
good.  Fishing  was  a  legitimate,  a  useful,  a  rewarding  occupa- 
tion. But  if  it  stood  in  the  way  of  a  higher  form  of  service, 
they  were  ready  to  yield  the  less  to  the  greater. 

The  measure  of  any  evil  is  not  the  grossness  of  it  nor  the 
malice  expressed  in  it — the  measure  of  any  evil  is  the  amount 
of  good  it  displaces.  And  if  that  which  is  not  in  itself  evil,  a 
legitimate  business,  an  allowable  recreation,  an  innocent  com- 
panionship, a  wholesome  ambition,  does  nevertheless  displace 
something  higher,  it  is  to  be  sacrificed.  If  it  comes  to  be  a 
hindrance  in  the  way  of  Christian  growth  and  usefulness, 
then  it  must  become  subordinate  to  its  superior.  The  pros- 
perous fishermen  forsook  all  and  followed  him  into  a  calling 
of  more  moment. 

But  before  they  left  the  beach  he  would  have  them  learn  a 
further  lesson  in  such  form  that  they  would  never  forget  it. 
The  fishing  the  night  before  had  not  been  good — they  had 
toiled  all  night  and  taken  nothing.  They  were  discouraged 
and  were  reluctant  to  try  again.  But  Jesus  bade  them, 
"Launch  out  into  the  deep  and  let  down  your  nets." 

It  seemed  to  Christ  as  he  looked  these  bronzed,  weather- 
beaten  men  over,  without  and  within,  that  '*they  were  fishing 
along  the  shores  of  a  great  opportunity  when  they  might  have 
been  doing  business  in  great  waters."    They  were  exercising 


54  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

their  ability  in  the  shallows,  catching  minnows  but  leaving  the 
larger  opportunity  unutilized.  The  use  they  were  making  of 
their  privileges  was  meager  and  unsatisfying  because  of  a  timid 
unwillingness  to  undertake  the  greater  task.  Therefore  he 
bade  them,  "Launch  out  into  the  deep." 

He  would  have  every  man  take  life  at  deeper  levels,  make 
fuller  use  of  each  privilege,  hitch  his  wagon  to  a  star,  not  to 
the  rear  car  on  some  noisy  elevated  train,  attempt  the  larger 
task  which  summons  the  best  of  his  powers  into  effective 
action.  "Launch  out,"  he  cries  to  all  those  who  hug  the  shore 
and  haunt  the  shallows  of  human  experience,  living  with  low 
aims  and  meager  ideals !  His  word  touches  all  those  finer 
values  in  life  which  are  of  more  worth  than  all  the  fish  in  the 
sea. 

"Launch  out  into  the  deep,"  the  voice  of  wisdom  cries! 
Enter  profoundly  into  the  real  meaning  of  these  educational 
facihties.  The  aim  of  college  training  is  not  to  confer  a  bit 
of  social  distinction,  or  to  enable  a  man  to  compete  more  suc- 
cessfully with  his  untrained  fellows  in  making  money,  or  to 
bestow  a  sense  of  superior  culture — the  average  young  Amer- 
ican can  be  trusted  to  think  quite  as  highly  of  himself  as  he 
ought  to  think  without  formal  authorization  in  the  shape  of  a 
diploma.  The  aim  of  education  is  to  develop  in  every  one 
the  sense  of  personal  adequacy  to  the  demands  which  society 
may  legitimately  make  upon  him  and  to  foster  the  readiness 
to  respond.    Launch  out  and  land  that ! 

The  main  fault  in  much  of  the  current  religious  life  is  not 
that  it  is  insincere  but  that  it  is  superficial.  There  are  thou- 
sands of  people  with  a  little  religious  belief — they  are  not 
infidels.  They  would  shrink  from  being  classed  with  the  irre- 
ligious— they  attend  church  if  the  day  is  pleasant  and  nothing 
better  offers.  They  have  some  faint  desire  to  honor  God  and 
become  mildly  useful  to  their  fellows  where  it  does  not  involve 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  55 

too  much  self-sacrifice.  But  they  have  never  seriously  tried 
to  think  their  way  through  to  a  clear,  definite  Christian  faith 
or  to  enter  into  the  power  and  meaning  of  heartfelt  worship 
or  to  show  themselves  resolute  in  striving  to  make  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Master  bear  rule  in  all  the  relations  of  Hfe.  They 
fish  too  near  the  shore. 

If  they  would  only  launch  out!  If  they  would  only  cast 
aside  their  supply  of  "reading  matter"  which  was  never  worth 
printing  and  is  not  now  worth  reading,  and  would  strive 
to  know  what  David  and  Isaiah,  John  and  Paul  and  our  Lord 
himself  had  to  say  about  Hfe  and  its  deeper  meanings,  what  a 
different  note  would  be  heard! 

Jesus  would  have  his  new-found  friends  learn  something  of 
all  this  as  they  face  the  more  exacting  responsibilities  of  spir- 
itual service.  And  the  wondrous  draught  of  fishes  secured 
under  his  direction  became  a  parable  in  action.  The  little  dory 
those  men  used  in  fishing  almost  sank  under  the  weight  of  the 
great  catch.  The  hearts  of  the  men  sank  altogether  under  the 
moral  impression  made.  "When  Simon  Peter  saw  it,  he  said, 
Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord." 

We  find  in  Luke  a  fine  sense  of  discrimination  in  his  use  of 
words.  In  the  other  Gospels  the  body  of  water  which  laps  the 
shores  of  Capernaum  and  Tiberias  is  called  "the  Sea  of  Gali- 
lee."^ Luke  calls  it  uniformly  a  "lake."  He  was  a  Gentile, 
more  widely  traveled,  perhaps,  and  he  saves  the  word  "sea" 
for  the  Mediterranean,  referring  to  this  smaller  body  of  water 
always  as  "the  Lake  of  Gennessaret." 

He  shows  the  same  discrimination  in  his  notice  of  the  words 
applied  to  Christ.  When  Jesus  bade  Simon  launch  out,  the 
answer  was,  "Master,  epistata,  we  have  toiled  all  night  and 
taken  nothing,  nevertheless  at  thy  word  I  will."  Jesus  was 
here  a  "Master"  whose  word  was  to  be  obeyed.  But  in  the 
presence  of  that  mysterious  manifestation  of  power  summon- 


56  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

ing  him  to  a  searching  and  exacting  form  of  service,  Simon 
says,  "Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord."  Here 
his  use  of  the  word  Ktirios,  Lord,  in  addressing  Jesus  denotes 
another  mood  and  the  deeper  sense  of  his  own  unworthiness. 
The  latter  mood  saw  farther  into  the  meaning  of  that  situa- 
tion. Jesus  is  a  "Master"  whose  precepts  are  to  be  obeyed. 
Jesus  is  "Lord  and  Saviour,"  making  men  conscious  of  their 
unworthiness  and  then  by  his  redeeming  grace  lifting  them 
into  a  sense  of  peace  and  of  power.  This  is  the  mood  in  which 
men  may  launch  forth  for  the  accomplishment  of  unmeasured 
results. 


THE    MINISTRY    OF   HEALING 
Mark  1:2^-45.    Matt.  4:  2S-35 

It  is  significant  that  in  the  New  Testament  the  Greek  word 
translated  in  certain  passages  "to  save"  is  in  other  passages 
translated  "to  heal"  or  "to  make  whole."  Salvation  is  whole- 
ness, soundness,  completeness  of  life. 

The  same  Lord  forgives  iniquities  and  heals  diseases.  The 
same  divine  energy  operates  upon  the  soul  and  upon  the  body, 
now  utilizing  thoughts  and  desires,  impulses  and  confidences, 
now  utilizing  fresh  air  and  pure  water,  good  food,  useful  exer- 
cise and  wise  remedies,  restoring,  upbuilding  and  completing 
the  entire  life  according  to  a  purpose  steadily  beneficent.  The 
Saviour  of  the  soul  is  known  also  as  "The  Great  Physician." 

It  would  be  inaccurate  to  speak  of  a  miracle  of  healing  as 
"a  violation  of  law"  or  as  a  piece  of  magic  performed  for  the 
amazement  of  the  people.  A  miracle  according  to  New  Testa- 
ment usage  is  a  result  wrought  for  spiritual  ends  by  divine 
power  according  to  laws  which  at  present  lie  outside  the  field 
of  ordinary  experience.  In  what  we  call  "natural  events,"  we 
find  "  a  divine  purpose  moving  steadily  across  the  ages,  keep- 
ing its  appointments  with  foreseen  human  needs."  In  those 
events  termed  "miraculous"  we  find  this  same  divine  energy 
now  manifesting  itself  according  to  methods  not  compre- 
hended at  present  by  ordinary  knowledge  and  experience. 

It  would  be  hard  to  disentangle  the  accounts  of  the  healing 
miracles  wrought  by  Christ  from  the  narrative  of  his  life — 
the  very  attempt  would  all  but  compel  men  to  banish  the  Gos- 
pels from  serious  historical  consideration. 

57 


58  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

The  occurrences  here  described  are  indeed  amazing.  Jesus 
himself  was  an  amazing  occurrence.  His  teaching  in  an  atmos- 
phere of  perfunctory  tradition;  his  quality  of  life  in  an  envi- 
ronment of  morbid  formalism;  his  impress  upon  the  higher 
life  of  the  world,  fresh,  vital,  abiding;  his  redemptive  energy 
finding  expression  in  the  recovery  of  the  moral  life  of  millions 
of  men  in  all  lands  and  times  since  he  appeared — all  this  to 
me  is  more  amazing  than  the  opening  of  blind  eyes  or  the 
healing  of  a  leper.  When  I  reflect  upon  the  moral  reactions 
which  his  life  produced  and  is  steadily  producing,  I  feel  a 
strong  presumption  that  the  great  natural  order  may  have  had 
a  response  to  make  to  him  altogether  unique.  And  when  I 
read  the  sober  statements  of  trustworthy  men,  some  of  them 
eye  witnesses  of  the  events  described,  I  am  ready  to  give  seri- 
ous consideration  to  the  claims  advanced  touching  the  healing 
miracles  wrought  by  this  unique  Personality. 

The  medical  practice  at  that  time  was  steeped  in  repulsive 
nonsense.  The  record  of  materia  medica  in  that  day  reads  like 
the  recipe  for  some  witch's  broth : 

"  Eye  of  newt  and  toe  of  frog, 
Wool  of  bat  and  tongue  of  dog, 
Adder's  fork  and  blind  worm's  sting, 
Lizard's  leg  and  owlet's  wing." 

It  was  from  such  wild  and  unsavory  ingredients  that  the  cur- 
rent practice  endeavored  to  minister  to  men  diseased.  It  was 
into  an  order  of  procedure  defaced  by  disgusting  ignorance 
that  the  Master  of  Life  came  with  his  sympathetic  touch  and 
his  word  of  power. 

"He  healed  many  that  were  sick  of  divers  diseases" — this 
is  the  hard  fact  which  somehow  withstands  the  file  of  criticism. 
How  did  he  do  it?  The  final  answer  to  that  question  is  high 
— we  cannot  attain  unto  it.  He  aimed  to  secure  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  expectant  hope  and  confident  trust  of  the  patient. 


ftiE  ONE  WHO  CAME  59 

He  worked  in  an  atmosphere  of  sympathy  and  faith,  taking 
with  him  into  the  sickroom  Peter  and  James  and  John,  his 
trusted  intimates,  and  putting  out  those  who  proved  a  hin- 
drance. When  he  found  himself  in  an  atmosphere  of  unbeHef, 
"He  could  do  there  no  mighty  work."  He  added  to  that  widely 
resident  impulse  toward  recovery,  causing  the  cut  finger  to 
heal,  the  broken  bone  to  knit,  the  system  overloaded  with 
noxious  substance  to  cast  it  off,  the  power  of  his  own  wise, 
loving  personality.  And  somehow  these  energies  availed  for 
the  recovery  of  many  from  their  ills. 

"Violations  of  natural  law?"  Rather  the  addition  of  a  higher 
force  which  altered  the  possibilities  in  that  situation  as  men 
had  sensed  it!  The  intelligent  man  takes  an  acre  of  Nevada 
desert  where  by  the  operation  of  natural  law  nothing  of  value 
grows,  and  by  skillful  irrigation  and  the  scattering  of  a  few 
seeds,  he  causes  it  to  blossom  like  the  rose.  The  course  of 
nature  had  never  produced  anything  there  but  sagebrush.  It 
might  seem  to  a  resident  prairie  dog  that  a  miracle  had  been 
wrought.  He  might  rub  his  eyes  and  say,  "We  never  saw  it 
on  this  fashion."  But  the  result  was  attained  according  to  law 
simply  by  the  introduction  of  a  new  measure  of  energy  and 
intelligence.  If  an  ordinary  man  can  thus  change  "the  course 
of  nature"  in  that  barren  field,  causing  the  existing  order  to  do 
what  it  would  not  have  done  but  for  his  approach,  what  shall 
we  say  in  the  field  of  human  betterment,  physical  as  well  as 
moral,  when  the  Son  of  God  makes  his  august  approach? 

In  the  quiet  of  the  synagogue  service  at  Capernaum,  a  wild 
cry  suddenly  broke  upon  the  ears  of  the  worshipers.  There 
was  a  man  present  suffering  from  one  of  those  maladies  plainly 
nervous  or  mental  in  origin  and  character  which  the  popular 
diagnosis  of  that  day  referred  to  "possession  by  a  devil."  The 
normal  condition  of  the  patient  seemed  to  be  overborne  by 
some  hostile  personality  within.    "He  has  a  devil,"  they  said. 


60  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

In  the  face  of  mysterious  afflictions  of  a  mental  or  nervous 
nature,  puzzling  still  to  the  wisest  of  physicians,  we  are  not 
surprised  that  the  people  of  an  earlier  day  unused  to  anything 
like  scientific  diagnosis  should  hastily  conclude  that  the  suf- 
ferer had  been  overpowered  by  some  hostile  influence  which 
they  termed  demoniacal. 

Jesus  by  the  strength  and  helpfulness  of  his  own  wise,  lov- 
ing, restorative  personality  recovered  the  unfortunate  man  to 
his  normal  condition.  The  man  writhed  and  "retched"  (to  give 
literal  translation  to  the  term  used)  and  then  became  quiet  and 
self -controlled.  And  the  people  witnessing  the  recovery  of  this 
nervous  sufferer  gave  the  tribute  of  their  unstinted  admiration. 
"They  were  all  amazed,  saying.  With  authority  he  commandeth 
even  the  unclean  spirits  and  they  obey  him." 

"When  they  were  come  out  of  the  synagogue  they  went  into 
the  house  of  Simon,"  where  his  wife's  mother  lay  sick  of  a 
fever.  In  the  Christian  regime  worship  stands  next  door  to 
service.  It  is  never  far  from  the  synagogue  of  aspiration  to 
the  home  of  pain  and  need.  The  holy  hands  which  are  up- 
lifted in  prayer  are  speedily  stretched  forth  in  sympathetic 
effort.  This  movement  of  the  Master,  so  simply  recorded,  was 
characteristic  of  his  entire  method.  It  is  meant  to  be  a  Scrip- 
ture written  for  our  learning  to  be  read,  marked,  learned  and 
inwardly  digested  to  the  end  that  the  same  direct  relation  may 
obtain  between  our  mood  of  worship  and  our  impulse  to  serve. 

The  Master  took  the  sick  woman  by  the  hand,  his  very  touch 
a  symbol  of  the  healing  impact  of  the  divine  life  upon  human 
ills,  and  Hfted  her  up.  "And  immediately,"  Mark  says,  without 
the  tedious  delay  of  a  long  drawn-out  convalescence,  she  arose 
and  participated  in  the  household  duties.  His  word  was  with 
power  and  his  touch  established  the  necessary  connection  be- 
tween bodily  ill  and  an  all-sufficing  energy  of  restoration. 

The  public  act  of  healing  in  the  synagogue  followed  by  this 


THE  MASTER'S  WAY  61 

deed  of  mercy  in  a  well-known  home  brought  a  flood-tide  of 
interest  in  this  new  prophet  of  Galilee.  The  enthusiasm  of  the 
people  was  restrained  during  the  day  by  the  fear  of  breaking 
the  Sabbath,  but  the  Jewish  Sabbath  ended  at  sundown.  "And 
at  even  when  the  sun  did  set  they  brought  unto  him  all  that 
were  diseased  and  them  that  were  possessed  with  devils  and 
all  the  city  was  gathered  together  at  the  door." 

How  familiar  is  this  popular  outburst  of  interest !  The  un- 
thinking in  that  land  and  in  this  show  less  interest  in  the 
message  than  in  the  medicine  of  religion. 

The  Master  refused  to  be  known  solely  or  mainly  as  a  won- 
der worker.  He  withdrew  repeatedly  from  this  popular  ac- 
claim consequent  upon  deeds  of  healing.  He  charged  those 
who  were  healed,  "See  thou  say  nothing  to  any  man."  He 
discouraged  all  display  of  his  cures  and  avoided  notoriety. 
But  his  policy  of  silence  availed  little.  The  men  who  were 
healed  published  it  everywhere  and  blazed  it  abroad.  "There 
went  out  a  fame  of  him  and  multitudes  came  to  be  healed  of 
their  infirmities." 

He  was  compelled  to  rise  early  in  the  morning  "a  great 
while  before  day,"  and  depart  into  a  solitary  place  for  prayer. 
Healing  virtue  had  gone  out  of  him  and  his  strength  must  be 
renewed.  The  sufferings  of  a  crowd  induced  a  heavy  drain 
upon  his  sympathetic  nature.  There  resulted  a  depletion  which 
sleep  unaided  could  not  restore.  There  under  the  quiet  stars 
with  the  open  sky  above  he  waited  upon  the  Father  to  replenish 
his  spiritual  vigor. 

When  he  returned  there  met  him  a  lone  sufferer  who  had 
not  been  able  to  mingle  with  the  throng  around  his  door  the 
night  before.  "There  came  a  leper  beseeching  him  and  saying, 
If  thou  wilt,  thou  canst."  The  sick  man  had  complete  faith  in 
the  power  but  an  imperfect  faith  in  the  disposition  of  Jesus  to 
make  him  whole.    Jesus  healed  him  and  sent  him  to  the  priests 


62  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

to  make  the  customary  thank-offering  for  his  cleansing  both  as 
a  means  of  securing  officially  a  clean  bill  of  health  and  as  a 
grateful  testimony  unto  God  that  Christ  had  made  him  whole. 
* 'Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits ; 
who  f orgiveth  all  thine  inquities ;  who  healeth  all  thy  diseases ; 
who  redeemeth  thy  life  from  destruction;  who  crowneth  thee 
with  lovingkindness !" 


XI 

THE  PARALYTIC  FORGIVEN  AND  HEALED 
Mark  2: 1- 1 2 

"Again  he  entered  into  Capernaum  after  some  days  and  it 
was  noised  that  he  was  in  the  house."  And  straightway  there 
was  no  room  to  receive  the  people,  no,  not  even  for  an  over- 
flow meeting  about  the  door.  The  earlier  accession  of  popu- 
lar interest  consequent  upon  successful  acts  of  healing  was 
here  intensified.  Jesus  used  the  opportunity  it  offered  not  for 
the  further  "healing  of  divers  diseases,"  but  for  direct  spiritual 
appeal.     "He  preached  the  word  unto  them." 

In  the  midst  of  his  discourse  there  came  a  startling  inter- 
ruption. Fragments  of  the  ceiling  began  to  fall  upon  the  heads 
of  his  hearers.  The  blows  of  a  pick  vigorously  wielded  over- 
head were  heard.  Presently  an  opening  in  the  roof  appeared. 
And  then  through  that  enlarged  opening  there  was  slowly 
lowered  into  the  room  where  he  stood  the  body  of  a  paralyzed 
man.  It  was  an  unconventional  proceeding  for  a  religious 
gathering,  but  it  had  back  of  it  the  impulse  of  a  mighty  faith. 

The  friends  of  this  palsied  man  had  heard  of  the  deeds  of 
healing  wrought  by  this  prophet  of  Galilee.  It  may  have  been 
that  these  men  had  personally  witnessed  such  acts,  for  they 
were  resident  in  Capernaum.  And  they  had  faith.  They  had 
tremendous  faith !  They  believed  that  if  their  suffering  friend 
could  only  be  brought  into  the  presence  of  Jesus  he  would  be 
restored. 

They  were  not  to  be  balked  by  an  array  of  obstacles.  They 
would  not  be  turned  back  as  they  carried  the  sick  man  toward 
the  place  where  Jesus  was  either  by  the  press  of  a  crowd,  too 

63 


64  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

selfish  to  give  way  for  a  sick  man,  or  by  the  tough  persistence 
of  an  oriental  roof.  It  was  no  easy  task  to  lift  the  man  to  the 
top  of  the  flat-roofed  house,  but  faith  and  high  resolve  accom- 
plished it.  It  was  not  easy  to  risk  the  anger  and  a  claim  for 
damages  on  the  part  of  the  landlord  as  they  dug  out  a  hole 
sufficient  to  lower  the  sick  man  into  the  presence  of  the  Master, 
but  faith  and  resolve  leaped  all  barriers.  And  now  in  the 
midst  of  the  discourse  the  eyes  of  pathetic  helplessness  looked 
up  into  the  answering  eyes  of  the  Son  of  Man. 

"When  Jesus  saw  their  faith" — the  faith  of  those  friends  as 
they  had  borne  resolute  and  persistent  testimony  to  it  by  heroic 
action — his  heart  was  moved.  He  was  ready  to  honor  this 
vicarious  faith  exercised  by  the  four  men  on  behalf  of  their 
companion.  The  faith  which  one  sympathetic  soul  exercises 
on  behalf  of  another  is  not  only  accounted  unto  him  for  right- 
eousness— it  becomes  efficacious  for  his  needy  fellow.  We 
are  knit  up  by  our  sympathies  into  a  community  of  interest 
where  the  interaction  of  faith  may  accomplish  wonders. 

But  the  Master  seemed  to  begin  remotely  making  an  indirect 
approach  to  this  palsied  man's  need.  "Son,  thy  sins  be  for- 
given thee."  It  was  not  for  this  that  the  four  friends  had 
made  their  heroic  effort. 

Jesus  recognized  the  fact  that  some  diseases  have  their  roots 
in  the  moral  nature.  The  malady  may  have  been  originally 
induced  by  wrongdoing.  In  such  case  a  new  mode  of  Hfe  is 
demanded  for  a  permanent  cure.  There  must  be  a  new  spirit 
and  a  new  purpose  if  the  recovery  of  such  a  sufferer  is  to  be 
undertaken  with  hope  of  success.  He  therefore  addressed 
himself  first  to  the  deeper  lack.  He  brought  before  the  mind 
of  the  palsied  man  a  need  more  vital  than  that  occasioned  by 
crippled  limbs — "Son,  thy  sins !" 

"There  were  certain  of  the  scribes  sitting  there."  They  were 
always  there.     The  presence  of  the  carping  critic,  himself 


THE   ONE  WHO   CAME  65 

powerless  to  bring  relief  to  the  palsied  limb  or  to  the  guilty 
heart,  may  be  counted  upon  until  the  millennium  draws  near. 
"They  were  reasoning"  (literally  "dialoguing")  "in  their 
hearts."  They  said:  "Blasphemies!  Who  can  forgive  sins 
but  God?"  Here  are  the  signs  of  coming  conflict!  Here  are 
the  drops  before  the  shower  which  will  mean,  when  the  storm 
finally  bursts  in  its  full  fury,  Calvary  and  the  Cross.  The 
opposition  of  the  leaders  of  the  Jewish  Church  to  the  messianic 
claims  of  Jesus  and  to  the  advance  of  his  Kingdom  are  the 
most  tragic  elements  in  the  gospel  narrative.  How  blind  they 
were !  The  gravest  charge  which  can  be  laid  at  the  door  of  the 
learned  Pharisees  of  that  day  is  that  the  most  significant  events 
in  the  moral  history  of  the  world  were  taking  place  before  their 
eyes  and  they  did  not  see  it. 

But  their  accurate  sensing  of  the  full  imphcation  of  his 
words,  as  theological  experts,  enabled  them  unwittingly  to 
bear  their  testimony  to  the  divine  power  and  prerogative  of 
our  Lord.  "Who  can  forgive  sins  but  God?"  No  one!  If 
Jesus  had  been  content  to  be  classed  as  "a  good  man"  or  as 
"one  of  the  prophets"  or  as  "the  best  moral  teacher  who  ever 
lived,"  he  would  not  have  provoked  that  relentless  opposition 
which  finally  brought  the  sentence  of  death.  It  was  his  bold 
statement,  "The  Son  of  Man  hath  power  on  earth  to  forgive 
sins,"  which  angered  them.  Their  relentless  opposition  proves 
them  aware  of  the  claim  he  made  for  himself. 

Jesus  accepted  their  challenge.  He  proceeded  to  establish 
before  their  unwilling  eyes  the  validity  of  his  claim  in  terms 
which  could  not  be  gainsaid.  "Which  is  easier,  to  say  to  the 
sick  of  the  palsy,  Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee;  or  to  say,  Arise 
and  take  up  thy  bed  and  walk  ?"  One  is  as  easy  to  say  as  the 
other,  but  to  make  good  the  saying  would  be  another  matter. 
There  was  One  on  earth  who  could  set  the  palsied  man  on  his 
feet  in  sound  health  and  fill  his  heart  with  a  new  sense  of 


66  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

peace.  And  there  before  the  grateful  eyes  of  the  four  men 
who  had  been  exercising  their  faith  for  another  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  carping,  dialoguing  scribes  Jesus  wrought  his 
deed  of  love  in  the  realm  of  the  visible  that  all  might  know 
that  his  saving  power  extended  with  equal  efficacy  into  the 
realm  of  unseen  values. 

He  would  have  been  a  discredited  teacher  from  that  hour  in 
the  eyes  of  friend  and  foe  alike  had  he  failed.  But  he  does 
not  fail.  His  word  here  as  everywhere  was  with  power. 
"That  ye  may  know" !  The  evidential  value  of  those  deeds 
of  love  is  here  indicated.  The  expression  of  his  beneficent 
energy  in  works  of  healing,  became  an  accepted  vise  upon  his 
claim  to  renew  and  restore  the  inner  life  until  it  should  bear 
the  image  of  God. 

"I  say  unto  thee.  Arise."  It  was  his  habit  to  demand  from 
those  he  would  bless  the  co-operation  of  their  own  faith  and 
effort.  "Arise!" — the  useless  muscles  had  not  reacted  under 
the  impulse  of  will  for  many  months!  "Take  up  thy  bed" — 
it  seemed  a  thing  impossible!  "And  go  thy  way" — was  this 
not  the  cruel  mockery  of  the  man's  weakness!  But  in  some 
way  when  the  palsied  man  undertook  to  show  the  obedience 
of  faith,  strength  was  given  him  at  each  successive  stage  of 
effort  to  meet  the  high  summons.  He  arose  and  stood  erect. 
He  took  up  his  bed  while  the  people  sat  in  breathless  astonish- 
ment. He  walked — the  crowd  now  falling  back  to  make  way 
for  this  man  upon  whom  the  miracle  of  healing  had  been 
wrought.  When  men  undertake  to  obey  the  divine  summons 
they  are  fulfilling  their  part  of  the  contract.  The  responsi- 
bility then  rests  with  the  Omnipotent  Author  of  that  initial 
impulse  to  empower  them  to  meet  his  demand. 

The  Master  of  life  in  this  telling  fashion  showed  himself 
thus  early  in  his  ministry  competent  to  cope  with  the  entire 
force  and  with  the  dire  results  of  evil  in  things  physical  and  in 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  67 

things  spiritual.  He  could  heal  and  he  could  forgive.  He 
undertakes  the  entire  removal  of  that  ominous  growth  of  evil, 
root  and  branch,  leaf  and  Dead  Sea  fruit,  which  defaces  the 
garden  and  embitters  the  lives  of  the  children  of  men. 

How  fitting  that  these  two  arms  of  a  common  service  to 
human  need  are  thus  brought  together  in  a  single  occurrence ! 
The  conjunction  is  worthy  of  perpetual  reproduction.  The 
pastor  who  ministers  to  the  moral  life,  which  in  turn  reacts 
upon  physical  health,  and  the  physician  who  ministers  to  the 
body  which  in  turn  reacts  upon  the  formation  of  character, 
can  best  work  in  sympathetic  co-operation,  each  one  doing  his 
own  work  and  each  one  doing  it  better  if  he  attempts  only 
that  for  which  he  is  particularly  adapted  and  trained. 

The  well-rounded  cycle  of  truth  in  this  lesson  is  apparent 
also  in  that  it  passes  easily  from  that  which  is  less  to  that 
which  is  greatest  of  all.  Physical  health  is  not  the  supreme 
good  to  be  sought  in  life.  There  was  one  who  had  faith  in 
God,  a  vital  and  an  eminent  faith,  but  he  suffered  for  years 
from  a  physical  malady  which  he  termed  his  "thorn  in  the 
flesh."  He  besought  the  Lord  steadily,  insistently,  devoutly, 
for  its  removal  but  it  remained.  And  by  his  very  disappoint- 
ment he  learned  that  there  are  forms  of  strength  which  are 
"made  perfect  through  weakness."  He  therefore  bravely  and 
patiently  bore  his  thorn  in  the  flesh  to  his  grave.  He  was  called 
Paul  and  you  will  find  his  name  written  in  the  annals  of  Chris- 
tian history  above  every  name,  save  only  the  name  of  the  One 
whom  he  served. 

The  great  truth  that  the  Son  of  Man  has  power  on  earth  to 
forgive  sins  holds  the  center  of  the  stage  in  this  passage.  He 
has  forgiven  them.  He  is  forgiving  them  every  day  in  the 
year  in  all  the  lands  of  earth.  The  peace,  the  joy  and  the  use- 
fulness of  all  these  renewed  lives  testify  to  that  fundamental 
fact  of  experience. 


XII 
FEASTING  AND  FASTING 
Mark  2: 1^-22 

The  Master  had  a  keen  eye  for  reality.  His  gaze  went 
through  an  outward  wrapping  of  forms  Hke  the  Roentgen  ray. 
He  saw  the  inner  structure —  or  the  lack  of  it — in  an  individual 
or  in  a  system.  He  recognized  the  weakness  of  the  hollow 
forms  to  which  Pharisees  were  devoted,  and  he  said  boldly 
that  publicans  and  harlots  would  go  into  the  Kingdom  ahead 
of  such  religionists — they  stood  nearer  the  front  in  the  moral 
procession.  1 

Here  he  follows  up  that  statement  by  actually  choosing  one 
of  the  hated  class  to  be  his  disciple.  "He  saw  a  man  named 
Levi  sitting  at  the  receipt  of  custom  and  said  unto  him,  Follow 
me."  The  identity  of  "Levi"  and  "Matthew"  seems  evident. 
Many  a  man  bore  two  names.  Levi  is  not  named  in  any  list 
of  the  Twelve  while  Matthew  is  named  in  them  all.  "Levi 
the  tax  collector"  .and  "Matthew  the  publican"  are  without 
question  the  same.  It  was  a  brave  act  for  Jesus  to  give  this 
mark  of  recognition  to  a, hated  class  by  calling  one  of  its 
worthier  members  to  be  his  personal  disciple. 

There  were  two  sorts  of , publicans  or  tax  collectors,  those 
who  collected  the  income  tax  and  those  who  were  customs 
officials.  The  latter  were  the  more  hated  as  their  office  gave 
them  the  greater  opportunity  for  extortion.  Matthew  belonged 
to  the  latter  class  and  Jesus  therefore  braved  the  strongest 
popular  condemnation. 

Then  with  further  disregard  for  the  current  prejudice  he 
sat  at  meat  with  the  hated  class.     "Jesus  sat  at  meat  in  his 

68 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  69 

(Matthew's)  house  and  many  pubHcans  and  sinners  sat  also 
together  with  Jesus  and  his  disciples."  This  social  recognition 
was  most  offensive  as  is  the  occasional  act  of  table  hospitality 
between  the  two  races  in  a  great  section  of  our  own  country. 
It  seems  to  imply  social  equality  which  one  race  is  .not  ready 
to  grant.  The  word  of  exclusion  from  "The  Merchant  of 
Venice"  is  still  in  force :  "I  will  buy  with  you,  sell  with  you, 
talk  with  you,  walk  with  you.  But  I  will  not  eat  with  you, 
drink  with  you  or  pray  with  you."  When  Jesus  ate  and 
drank  with  publicans  and  sinners  it  was  a  grievous  affront  to 
the  popular  prejudice. 

He  justified  his  course  by  saying:  "I  am  a  physician.  I  go 
where  my  patients  are.  I  put  myself  in  touch  with  them  as  a 
practicing  physician  must  and  for  a  kindred  purpose."  And 
then  he  added  with  a  fine  mingling  of  humor  and  of  sarcasm : 
''They  that  are  whole  have  no  need  of  the  physician  but  they 
that  are  sick.  I  came  not  to  call  the  righteous  but  sinners  to 
repentance !" 

How  delicious  is  the  gentle  scorn  heaped  upon  their  com- 
placency in  those  words  of  rebuke.  "They  that  are  whole'' — 
and  there  they  stood  before  him  crippled  and  disfigured  by  the 
moral  maladies  they  suffered.  "Have  no  need'' — the  scribes 
themselves  would  have  said  so  but  as  we  look  upon  them  now, 
where  can  we  find  such  spiritual  destitution?  "I  came  not  to 
call  the  righteous" — and  as  the  words  fell  from  his  lips,  we 
can  almost  see  a  smile  of  reproach  as  he  reflected  upon  their 
sorry  lack  of  righteousness.  He  knew  what  was  in  man.  He 
utilized  the  various  elements  of  human  speech.  And  here  the 
element  of  humor  and  of  irony  finds  place  in  making  his 
rebuke  effective. 

"Why  do  thy  disciples  fast  not?"  It  was  the  practice  of 
his  disciples  rather  than  his  own  habit  which  the  Pharisees 
criticised.    It  may  be  that  Jesus  conformed,  feeling  that  it  was 


70  THE  MASTER'S  WAV 

becoming  to  fulfill  all  the  righteousness  of  the  religious  method 
in  which  he  had  been  brought  up.  But  under  the  influence  of 
the  principles  he  taught  his  followers  were  already  claiming 
for  themselves  a  fuller  measure  of  spiritual  liberty.  They 
were  placing  a  more  distinct  and  a  more  exclusive  emphasis 
upon  things  vital. 

Jesus  replied  by  saying  that  the  present  mood  of  the  dis- 
ciples in  the  newfound  joy  of  their  spiritual  alliance  with  him 
did  not  prompt  fasting.  They  could  not  fast  while  the  Bride- 
groom was  with  them.  He  would  have  religious  observances 
fraught  with  meaning  and  genuineness  or  he  would  not  have 
them  at  all.  To  fast  or  to  feast  because  a  certain  hour  had 
come  in  the  ecclesiastical  calendar  seemed  to  the  Master  mean- 
ingless. He  would  have  the  fast  or  the  feast  marked  by 
reality  as  expressing  the  dominant  mood  and  ministering  nur- 
ture to  some  definite  purpose.  "The  days  will  come!"  And 
when  they  come  let  the  religious  observance  match  the  need 
they  bring. 

He  thus  lifts  the  practice  of  his  disciples  above  the  mecha- 
nism of  religious  observance.  He  lays  a  foundation  for  that 
liberty  indicated  in  the  letter  to  the  Colossians.  "Let  no  man 
judge  you  in  meat  or  in  drink,  or  in  respect  of  an  holy  day, 
or  of  the  new  moon  or  of  the  Sabbath."  The  spirit  of  the 
inner  life  must  rule  rather  than  the  letter  of  some  hard  and 
fast  regime. 

The  Master  used  two  illustrations  in  which  the  same  element 
of  quiet  humor  is  manifest.  He  pictured  the  incongruity  of 
putting  a  new  patch  on  an  old  garment.  The  old  would  be 
too  badly  worn  to  retain  the  stitches  binding  the  new  in  place, 
and  when  the  patch  was  inevitably  torn  away  the  rent  would 
be  worse. 

It  is  a  homely  picture  of  the  folly  of  taking  some  fragment 
of  observance  away  from  its  connections  where  it  has  some 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  71 

value  and  endeavoring  to  join  it  with  that  where  there  is  no 
essential  agreement.  The  hard  and  fast  system  of  the  Phari- 
sees would  not  serve  as  a  garment  to  which  the  new  spiritual 
liberty  which  Jesus  came  to  confer  might  be  linked.  The  new 
life  would  demand  a  new  setting. 

It  may  be  well  to  remember  in  this  connection  that  no  frag- 
ment of  exemption  from  the  stricter  rules  of  religious  observ- 
ance can  rightly  be  claimed — it  must  be  taken  as  a  component 
part  of  a  new  mode  of  life.  There  are  many  who  are  eager 
to  free  themselves  from  the  letter  of  Sabbath  observance,  for 
example,  who  have  not  by  any  means  entered  into  the  more 
exacting  liberty  of  the  Spirit.  If  the  new  patch  is  to  be  taken 
the  entire  new  garment  of  a  finer  type  of  righteousness  spring- 
ing from  a  law  deep  written  in  the  heart  must  go  with  it,  else 
the  bit  of  liberty  will  be  abused. 

Jesus  added  the  further  illustration  of  the  folly  of  pouring 
new  wine,  exhaling  gases  during  its  period  of  fermentation, 
into  old  wine  skins.  Where  the  skin  was  old  the  fermentation 
and  the  clarifying  process  through  which  the  new  wine  would 
pass  as  it  matured  would  rend  the  skins ;  and  that  would  mean 
the  loss  of  everything. 

The  molds  in  which  the  new  life  flows  must  be  adequate. 
"If  Jesus  were  to  put  his  new  vital  force  into  the  enfeebled 
Jewish  order,  something  would  break.  New  ways  for  new 
powers.  The  free  life  must  have  its  own  modes.  Fasting  as 
an  act  of  religion  belongs  to  the  old  order  of  outwardness  and 
routine,  not  to  the  new  kingdom  of  the  spirit.  The  new  move- 
ment of  life  wants  other  forms  of  expression." 

The  times  on  which  we  have  fallen  have  need  of  such  a 
word.  New  wine  is  flowing  from  the  press  these  days.  The 
social  interest  which  occupies  so  large  a  part  of  the  world's 
mind,  and  the  social  sympathy  which  has  such  a  profound 
hold  upon  the  world's  heart,  and  the  social  energy  which  ab- 


72  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

sorbs  so  much  of  the  strength  of  the  world's  right  arm  are  the 
new  wine  of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  This  wine  is  making  glad 
the  hearts  of  many  whose  zest  over  the  cultivation  of  an  alto- 
gether private  and  personal  piety  had  begun  to  wane. 

This  new  form  of  Christian  impulse  will  demand  new  modes 
of  expression.  It  cannot  be  contained  in  the  old  vessels.  If 
the  desire  to  serve  on  the  part  of  the  morally  ardent  young 
men  of  the  land  is  to  be  kept  without  loss  and  used  for  what 
it  is  really  worth  new  wine  skins  must  be  forthcoming  without 
delay. 

One  reason  why  many  a  young  college  fellow  with  unselfish 
heart  and  devoted  spirit  does  not  turn  to  the  Christian  min- 
istry, as  would  have  been  the  case  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago, 
is  that  the  idea  of  preaching  to  a  small  section  of  a  small  town 
already  overchurched  where  half  a  dozen  of  his  compeers 
struggle  together  for  the  attendance  and  the  support  of  a 
meager  constituency,  does  not  summon  the  best  he  has  into 
action.  Give  him  the  challenge  of  a  man's  job  for  his  moral 
powers  and  he  will  show  himself  as  ready  as  was  Hobson  at 
Santiago. 

If  the  Christian  men  of  a  congregation  are  not  asked  to  do 
anything  more  than  to  pay  the  pew  rent  and  hold  up  the  other 
side  of  the  hymn-book  while  their  wives  and  daughters  read 
the  responses  and  sing  God's  praise  in  their  gentler  soprano, 
with  a  bare  handful  of  men  serving  as  trustees,  deacons  and 
ushers,  then  we  can  understand  why  church  life  may  seem  to 
them  scarcely  worth  while. 

But  if  the  new  wine  of  Christian  impulse,  strongly  flavored 
as  it  is  with  social  interest,  may  find  new  receptacles  there  is 
hope.  Let  it  be  given  to  the  elevation  of  civic  life;  to  the 
introduction  of  a  more  democratic  spirit  into  the  control  of 
industry;  to  the  securing  of  a  more  equitable  distribution  of 
the  joint  product  of  hands  and  brains  among  those  who  con- 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  73 

tributed  to  the  net  result.  Let  men  go  down  to  their  shops  and 
stores,  their  factories  and  mines,  their  railroads  and  steam- 
ships, saying,  "The  kingdom  of  God  must  come  here;  the  great 
ideals  of  Christian  brotherhood  must  be  reaHzed  here  in  terms 
of  economic  life."  Then  the  new  wine  of  Christian  impulse 
will  be  preserved  and  all  these  forms  of  activity  will  receive 
the  inspiration  of  a  finer  content.  The  new  movements  of  life, 
now  in  the  stage  of  fermentation  and  on  their  way  toward 
clarification,  must  have  their  own  appropriate  modes  of 
expression. 


XIII 

THE   VISIT   TO    NAZARETH 

Luke  4: 16-^0 

"He  came  to  Nazareth  where  he  had  been  brought  up."  He 
would  ascertain  whether  "a  prophet  mighty  in  deed  and  in 
word"  would  be  without  honor  in  his  own  country.  It  would 
be  a  test  not  so  much  of  the  prophet  as  of  the  country.  If  any 
country  fails  to  honor  the  One  whose  name  has  been  written 
by  the  ages  above  every  name  it  dishonors  itself. 

He  went  into  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  "as  his  custom 
was."  He  was  always  there  when  the  day  came.  It  was  a  way 
he  had  and  during  the  thirty  formative  years  which  led  up  to 
his  public  service  the  steady  impress  of  that  habit  of  worship 
contributed  mightily  to  the  development  which  enabled  him 
to  say,  'T  am  the  way." 

Habits  are  sometimes  heavy,  troublesome  chains — they  are 
sometimes  the  best  of  friends.  When  certain  wholesome 
actions  have  been  repeated  until  they  become  automatic  the 
mind  and  the  will  are  left  free  to  deal  with  other  problems. 
Progress  in  character  is  marked  by  the  gradual  transfer  of 
important  lines  of  action  from  the  realm  of  discussion  and 
conscious  decision  to  the  realm  of  established  custom.  The 
great  fundamental  verities  of  right  living  should  not  remain 
open  questions  to  be  weighed  pro  and  con  in  the  face  of  every 
fresh  situation.  The  committing  of  certain  valued  interests 
to  habits  which  have  vindicated  their  worth  by  long  and 
widespread  tests  becomes  the  act  of  moral  wisdom. 

Jesus  participated  in  the  service  of  worship.  He  was  no 
silent,  passive  partner  in  the  august  traA5actions  there  con- 

74 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  75 

ducted  between  a  world  unseen  and  a  clearly  recognized  world 
of  human  needs.  He  would  sing;  he  would  pray;  he  would 
have  his  share  in  the  reading  of  holy  Scripture.  There  was 
delivered  unto  him  the  ancient  roll  of  the  prophet  Isaiah  and 
he  stood  up  to  read. 

The  passage  selected  was  most  significant.  Is  there  in  all 
the  Old  Testament  a  single  verse  which  more  completely  sug- 
gests the  main  motif  of  his  ministry?  He  would  not  emphasize 
the  fact  that  upon  occasion  he  could  meet  the  world's  hunger 
with  a  generous  supply  of  loaves  and  fishes.  He  would  not 
make  conspicuous  his  ability  to  heal  all  our  diseases.  His  great 
purpose  is  here  declared  to  be  one  of  personal  moral  renewal 
and  of  social  reconstruction  that  every  life  might  have  its  full 
chance  to  be  a  life. 

"The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me" — this  is  the  simple, 
accurate,  sufficing  account  of  the  initial  impulse  which  under- 
lay his  ministry,  making  it  efficient.  This  was  the  first  sen- 
tence of  his  first  real  sermon  delivered  there  in  his  old  home. 
His  sense  of  the  presence  of  God  in  his  own  heart,  his  un- 
broken consciousness  of  co-operation  with  the  Infinite  Spirit 
enabled  him  to  "do  always  those  things  which  please  Him." 
The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  was  within  him  making  there  in  human 
terms  the  supreme  manifestation  in  history  of  the  abiding 
character  of  the  Eternal. 

He  also  struck  clearly  and  firmly  the  note  of  social  regen- 
eration. "He  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  to  the 
poor.  He  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted,  to 
preach  deliverance  to  the  captive  and  to  set  at  liberty  them 
that  are  bruised."  His  total  energy  was  pledged  to  the  large 
task  of  human  reclamation. 

"This  day  this  Scripture  is  fulfilled  in  your  ears" — the 
great  result  foretold  at  the  time  of  the  Captivity  was  now  in 
process   of   reaHzation.     Jesus   was  building  his   own  work 


76  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

solidly  into  the  highest  spiritual  expectations  of  his  own  race. 
He  did  not  come  to  destroy  nor  to  surrender  one  jot  or  one 
tittle  of  the  best  they  had  seen  and  felt  and  hoped  for — he 
came  rather  to  fill  it  full.  And  as  he  unfolded  the  magnificent 
implications  of  those  words  of  hope  from  the  book  of  Isaiah 
the  people  wondered  and  rejoiced  over  the  gracious  words 
which  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth. 

But  there  came  presently  a  change  in  their  mood.  He  was 
one  of  their  own  boys.  He  had  played  in  their  streets ;  he  had 
been  taught  in  their  schools.  *ls  not  this  Joseph's  son?"  they 
said,  and  Joseph  was  only  a  carpenter  down  street.  Their 
eyes  were  holden  and  they  were  unable  to  recognize  the  divine 
in  that  which  was  near  and  familiar.  It  is  not  the  only  occa- 
sion when  the  undiscerning  were  entertaining  angels  unawares, 
awaking  to  their  high  privilege  only  too  late. 

When  Benjamin  Franklin  first  appeared  in  his  homely  garb 
at  the  courts  of  Europe  the  superficial  observers  were  ready 
with  a  sneer,  *Ts  not  this  the  Philadelphia  printer?"  They 
learned  presently  that  a  philosopher  and  a  statesman  had  ap- 
peared upon  the  scene.  When  the  hard  crisis  of  the  Civil  War 
came  upon  us  and  the  one  man,  so  far  as  we  can  now  see  in 
the  light  of  the  terrible  experiences  of  those  days,  was  in  the 
providence  of  God  placed  in  command,  the  undiscerning  said, 
"Is  not  this  the  rail-splitter?"  When  the  present  Chancellor 
of  the  Exchequer  in  England  first  rose  into  prominence  as  a 
political  leader  there  were  carping  critics  who  remarked,  "Is 
not  this  the  Welsh  lay  preacher?"  The  inability  to  recognize 
the  splendid  and  abiding  worth  of  that  which  may  be  found  in 
a  simple  setting  is  not  confined  to  the  little  company  gathered 
that  day  in  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth. 

In  that  critical  mood  they  challenged  him,  "What  we  have 
heard  done  in  Capernaum,  do  here."  Even  though  gracious 
words  had  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth  they  taunted  him  with 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  77 

the  fact  that  he  had  not  healed  the  sick  in  Nazareth.  The 
easy  challenge  of  unbelief  that  miracles  be  worked  to  order 
for  its  confounding  is  altogether  common. 

Then  Jesus  answered  them  out  of  their  own  history  show- 
ing that  the  mercy  of  God  had  been  steadily  carrying  on  a 
work  of  relief  at  outstations.  The  needy  woman  of  Sarepta 
in  pagan  Sidon  had  been  relieved  by  the  prophet  Elijah  when 
"many  widows  in  Israel"  remained  famine  stricken.  Naaman 
the  Syrian,  a  worshiper  in  the  house  of  Rimmon,  rather  than 
in  that  place  where  Jehovah  had  caused  his  honor  to  dwell, 
was  healed  by  Elisha  to  the  apparent  neglect  of  "many  lepers 
in  Israel."  And  here  again  the  divine  compassion  had  found 
expression  and  acceptance  in  those  remote  places  which  the 
orthodox  people  of  Nazareth  viewed  with  contempt. 

Instead  of  rejoicing  in  these  overflows  of  the  divine  mercy 
"they  were  filled  with  wrath."  They  rose  up  and  thrust  him 
out  of  the  city  for  telling  them  these  plain  truths.  They 
crowded  him  toward  the  brow  of  the  hill  that  they  might  if 
possible  cast  him  over  the  ledge.  Unless  the  sectarian  name 
which  they  bore  was  blown  in  the  bottle  which  conveyed  the 
water  of  life  they  would  not  drink  it.  The  prejuidce  aroused 
by  these  references  to  the  fact  that  other  communities  had  been 
blinded  by  their  unbelief  to  the  point  where  they  had  failed 
to  avail  themselves  of  blessings  within  reach,  even  as  the  men 
of  Nazareth  were  doing  at  that  hour,  stirred  their  hatred  and 
the  gracious  words  which  had  proceeded  out  of  his  mouth  were 
all  forgotten.  They  rose  up  in  their  blind  rage  and  made  com- 
plete their  rejection  of  the  Master's  timely  message. 

It  was  a  rejection  which  "struck  home"  in  the  fullest  sense 
of  that  familiar  phrase.  The  region  of  Galilee  was  on  the 
whole  more  hospitable  to  his  teaching  than  Pharisee-ridden 
Judea,  but  here  in  his  own  little  Nazareth  nestling  among 
those  Galilean  hills,  he  was  cast  out  of  the  synagogue.     His 


78  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

visit  to  Nazareth  shed  no  glory  on  the  Httle  town — it  was  a 
day  of  judgment  for  Nazareth  and  the  place  stood  condemned 
by  its  own  blind  conceit.  "He  came  unto  his  own"  and,  to  their 
lasting  discredit,  *'his  own  received  him  not." 

But  his  rejection  by  those  who  ought  most  readily  to  have 
accepted  him  was  not  exceptional.  It  is  one  of  the  pathetic 
sights  in  every  community  that  children  reared  in  homes  of 
tender  and  beautiful  piety  deny  the  whole  family  tradition 
and  develop  into  selfish  worldlings.  The  accumulated  spiritual 
capital  which  they  have  received  by  inheritance  may  save 
them  from  lines  of  life  morally  disreputable,  but  they  add 
nothing  to  the  spiritual  forces  of  the  communities  where  they 
dwell.  When  converts  visit  us  from  non-Christian  lands  they 
stand  amazed  at  the  number  of  people  who,  walking  in  the  full 
light  of  spiritual  privilege  which  has  been  ours  for  centuries, 
find  nothing  better  for  themselves  than  the  hard,  thin  life  of 
ungodliness. 

When  any  man  reads  Harold  Begbie's  "Other  Sheep"  with 
its  new  chapters  in  "the  book  of  Acts"  declaring  the  wonderful 
victories  won  by  souls  less  favorably  placed  than  was  the 
woman  of  Sarepta  or  Naaman,  the  Syrian,  he  feels  himself 
smitten  with  a  great  reproach.  The  souls  that  walked  in  dark- 
ness "followed  the  gleam"  and  now  they  rejoice  in  a  vision 
of  light  where  there  is  no  darkness  at  all.  They  joyously  en- 
gage in  a  service  crowned  with  glory  and  honor.  "If  the 
mighty  works  which  were  done  in  you  had  been  done"  in  the 
Tamil  country  or  in  Shansi,  now  may  we  say  in  our  humilia- 
tion, what  wonders  of  response  might  not  the  world  have 
witnessed ! 

How  difficult  it  is  to  recognize  the  real  greatness  of  great 
things  when  they  are  seen  at  close  range!  The  Matterhorn 
is  greater  from  Corner  Crat  than  from  the  Schwart  See 
which  lies  at  the  very  foot  of  the  awful  peak.    The  Son  of 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  79 

Man  wears  now  a  halo  placed  there  by  the  grateful  recog- 
nition and  adoration  of  nineteen  centuries,  but  to  the  people  in 
whose  streets  he  had  grown  up  he  was  only  "the  carpenter's 
son."  The  mighty  acts  of  the  divine  spirit  in  our  own  day 
bringing  down  out  of  heaven  from  God  that  better  order  of 
life  whose  beauty  will  shine  forth  like  the  sun  in  its  strength 
are  likewise  too  near  and  familiar  to  be  rightly  judged.  O 
Lord  open  thou  our  eyes  that  we  may  see  and  believe  and 
obey ! 


XIY 

THE    TWELVE    MEN 

Mark  3:7-19.  Matt.  10:1-7 

"He  ordained  twelve  that  they  should  be  with  him  and  that 
he  might  send  them  forth."  He  wrote  no  book.  He  arranged 
no  stately  ceremonial.  He  gave  the  barest  hints  as  to  organiza- 
tion. He  staked  the  entire  future  of  his  cause  upon  the  work 
of  twelve  men  who  had  been  "with  him"  until  they  were  satu- 
rated with  his  spirit  and  were  competent  to  be  "sent  forth"  to 
reproduce  the  quality  of  his  life  in  the  service  they  could 
render. 

When  he  set  about  the  task  of  promulgating  a  religion  he 
did  not  therefore  prepare  an  elaborate  treatise  on  the  subject. 
He  gathered  these  intimates  about  him  breathing  upon  them 
the  breath  of  his  own  life  as  he  said,  "Receive  ye  the  Spirit." 
"As  the  Father  hath  sent  me,  I  send  you."  The  only  way  to 
reveal  a  person  is  through  a  person.  The  Father  revealed 
himself  through  the  Son  and  the  Son  manifests  himself  to  the 
world  through  lives  which  reproduce  his  spirit. 

He  was  a  true  vine  and  he  put  forth  branches,  projections 
and  utterances  of  his  own  life.  He  put  forth  twelve,  and  then 
seventy,  and  then  three  thousand  that  his  work  might  bear 
fruit.  This  was  his  chosen  method  of  perpetuating  his  influ- 
ence in  the  world  and  of  bringing  men  to  the  Father.  "He 
that  receiveth  you,"  he  said  to  them,  "receiveth  me,  and  he 
that  receiveth  me  receiveth  him  that  sent  me."  The  whole 
way  between  sinful  men  and  the  merciful  Father  was  to  be 
bridged  by  consecrated  flesh  and  blood. 

He  chose  twelve  because  every  Hebrew  would  recognize  in- 

80 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  81 

stantly  that  this  meant  a  new  Israel,  a  new  kingdom  in  which 
the  whole  race  would  be  blessed,  a  New  Jerusalem  into  which 
all  the  nations  of  earth  would  bring  their  glory  and  their 
honor.  The  number  twelve  was  like  a  thought-form  to  the 
patriotic  Hebrew.  He  pictured  the  Kingdom  of  God  as  having 
twelve  sections. 

The  Master  chose  for  the  most  part  outdoor  men  accus- 
tomed to  deal  with  things  and  persons  rather  than  with  words 
and  abstract  ideas.  They  would  have  a  keen,  vivid  sense  of 
reality.  They  were  strong  in  their  individuality — we  find  noth- 
ing of  that  smooth  monotony  commonly  apparent  where  ob- 
jects are  counted  off  by  dozens.  The  fresh,  incisive  account 
of  the  way  these  twelve  men  followed  one  Lord  but  each  upon 
his  own  two  feet  and  with  his  own  particular  gait  and  style 
holds  our  interest  throughout. 

When  we  follow  the  development  of  these  twelve  men  they 
do  not  give  us  the  impression  of  a  well-drilled  company  of 
unvarying  angels  or  of  the  well-cast  colossal  statues  to  be 
found  under  the  dome  of  St.  Peters — they  are  twelve  natural 
genuine,  clear-cut  men,  out  of  whom  even  the  weight  of  their 
incomparable  training  did  not  iron  the  tucks  and  wrinkles  of 
sharply  defined  personality.  They  followed  the  Master  not 
in  the  weak,  servile  imitation  of  the  letter  but  in  the  fine, 
spontaneous  freedom  of  the  spirit. 

PETER  stands  first  in  each  of  the  lists  given  us  in  the 
synoptic  Gospels.  He  usually  came  first  whatever  was  on — 
his  ardent,  impulsive  nature  brought  him  to  the  front.  "De- 
part from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O  Lord,"  he  cries  when 
he  first  meets  Jesus,  as  if  thrusting  away  his  hope  of  salvation. 
"Lord,  to  whom  should  we  go?  Thou  hast  the  words  of 
eternal  life,"  he  says  later,  clinging  more  closely  than  all  the 
rest.  "Thou  shall  never  wash  my  feet,"  he  protests,  reluctant 
and  ashamed  when  the  Master  proffers  that  lowly  service. 


82  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

Then  a  moment  later  at  the  prospect  of  failing  to  enjoy  a 
certain  form  of  fellowship  with  Christ  he  breaks  in,  "Lord, 
not  my  feet  but  my  hands  and  my  head." 

"Though  all  men  should  deny  thee,  yet  I  never  will,"  was 
his  ready  boast  that  fateful  night  when  the  possibility  of  waver- 
ing loyalty  was  suggested.  *T  know  not  the  man,"  he  pro- 
tested with  an  oath,  before  the  cock  crew.  Everywhere  the 
same  impulsive,  impetous  vigor,  now  good,  now  bad,  but  al- 
ways intense.  Yet  when  that  eager,  impulsive,  uncertain 
nature  was  fully  mastered  by  the  divine  Spirit,  when  it  was 
brought  under  the  powerful  sway  of  an  abiding  relation  to  the 
Saviour,  that  life  became  indeed  "a  rock"  of  strength  enabling 
its  possessor  to  follow  loyally  even  unto  death. 

THOMAS  is  the  very  opposite  of  Peter.  They  stood  poles 
apart.  Thomas  had  a  melancholy,  despondent  temperament. 
His  three  recorded  sayings  are  all  characteristic.  "Let  us  also 
go  that  we  may  die  with  him."  "Lord,  we  know  not  whither 
thou  goest  and  how  can  we  know  the  way?"  "Except  I  see 
in  his  hands  the  print  of  the  nails  I  will  not  believe."  His  was 
a  somber  nature,  looking  habitually  on  the  dark  side,  well-nigh 
color  blind  to  all  tints  save  the  deep  navy  blue. 

Jesus  did  not  meet  his  uncertainty  and  fear  with  rebuke. 
He  met  him  with  evidence  and  sympathy  and  kindly  instruc- 
tion. "Thomas,  reach  hither  thy  finger."  And  when  patience, 
guidance  and  kindly  fellowship  had  done  their  appointed  work, 
this  groping  soul  was  enabled  at  last  to  cry  in  joyous  recogni- 
tion of  what  his  inner  life  craved,  "My  Lord  and  my  God !" 

PHILIP  had  a  sluggish,  calculating,  practical  disposition. 
"We  have  found  him  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law  and  the 
prophets  did  write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph." 
The  facts  are  there  carefully  set  out  as  in  a  trial  balance.  How 
different  from  the  eager  cry  of  Andrew — "We  have  found  the 
Messiah."     In  the  presence  of  the  hungry  multitude,  "Jesus 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  83 

said  to  Philip,  Whence  shall  we  buy  bread  that  these  may  eat?" 
Philip,  bookkeeper-like,  went  off  instantly  into  a  mental  cal- 
culation as  to  the  probable  cost  of  the  requisite  food.  "Two 
hundred  pennyworth,"  he  said  presently,  "would  not  suffice 
if  every  one  of  them  would  take  a  little."  Everywhere  a 
prosaic,  unimaginative  man,  lacking  in  vision  and  enthusiasm ! 

But  these  cautious,  practical  men  are  very  useful  when  we 
are  dealing  with  the  financial  aspects  of  religious  work.  They 
add  up  well  on  the  "Committee  of  Ways  and  Means,"  even 
though  their  spiritual  enthusiasm  never  carries  them  quite  up 
into  the  third  heaven.  They  have  a  way  of  telling  us  with 
clear-eyed,  hard-headed  sagacity  what  ought  to  be  done  next. 
In  a  "great  house"  there  are  vessels  of  gold  and  of  silver,  and 
also  of  wood  and  of  earth ;  and  there  is  a  large  place  of  use- 
fulness for  practical  men. 

JOHN  has  sometimes  been  pictured  as  gentle,  quiet,  tender, 
almost  effeminate.  He  has  quite  another  look  in  the  Scriptures. 
He  was  "a  son  of  Thunder,"  capable  of  that  which  is  electric, 
startling,  powerful.  There  was  something  hot  and  terrible  in 
his  early  temperament— he  it  was,  not  Peter  nor  Judas,  who 
wanted  to  call  down  fire  and  burn  up  the  Samaritan  village 
which  refused  entertainment  to  the  Master.  His  very  intensity 
of  soul  made  him  narrow — "Master,  we  saw  one  casting  out 
devils  and  we  forbade  him  because  he  followed  not  with  us." 
He  was  not  conspicuous  for  modesty — he  was  one  of  the  two 
who  wanted  to  sit  on  the  right  and  the  left  hand  of  the  Lord 
in  his  Kingdom.  They  made  the  confident  boast  that  they 
could  drink  his  cup  and  be  baptized  with  his  baptism. 

But  this  man,  bold,  self-confident,  ambitious,  intense,  af- 
fectionate, was  tamed,  softened,  subdued,  by  a  long  and  notable 
Christian  life,  and  what  a  nature  his  became !  He  seemed  at 
last  to  see  into  the  very  heart  of  Christ,     His  ultimate  hope 


84  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

and  his  open  vision  of  God's  love  are  well  voiced  in  those 
words,  "We  shall  be  like  him,  for  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is." 

JAMES  is  never  represented  as  speaking  for  himself — not 
a  recorded  word  of  his  appears  anywhere  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. He  is  not  the  James  of  the  Epistle.  Nevertheless  he 
seems  to  have  been  one  of  the  three  closest  companions  of  our 
Lord.  Into  the  place  of  death  in  the  home  of  Jairus,  into  the 
glory  of  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  into  the  farther  depths 
of  the  Garden  or  Gethsemane,  "Jesus  took  with  him,  Peter 
and  James  and  John" — always  those  three ! 

The  untold  possibilities  of  quiet  strength  are  here  suggested 
in  that  the  silent  James  is  thus  honored  by  his  Master  and 
given  a  place  within  that  inner  circle  of  friends. 

The  choice  of  MATTHEW  seemed  to  fly  in  the  face  of 
popular  prejudice  and  to  cast  aside  all  maxims  of  expediency. 
Matthew  was  a  publican,  a  tax  collector.  The  people  hated  all 
such;  they  linked  the  name  "pubHcan"  with  the  lowest  terms 
they  had — "publicans  and  sinners,"  "publicans  and  harlots," 
"a  heathen  man  and  a  publican"  !  So  their  phrases  ran !  His 
selection  by  the  Master  was  surely  "a.  venture  of  faith." 

But  Christ  habitually  put  the  leaven  down  into  the  meal 
where  it  was  fairly  hidden  by  the  task  imposed  upon  it.  He 
came  not  to  call  the  righteous  but  men  who  had  missed  the 
mark. 

Space  would  fail  me  to  speak  of  Andrew  and  Thaddeus  and 
Simon  the  Canaanite.  But  there  is  the  last  name  in  the  list, 
JUDAS  ISCARIOT!  Why  was  he  chosen?  Was  he  false 
from  the  first?  We  know  all  the  stock  questions.  His  selec- 
tion seems  another  and  here  an  unsuccessful  venture  of  faith. 
He  was  mercenary;  he  was  two-faced;  he  placed  himself  in 
touch  with  the  forces  of  evil  at  a  great  crisis  and  experienced 
a  tragic  downfall.  He  had  his  chance  to  gain  holy  character 
along  with  Peter  and  James  and  John.    But  even  the  gracious 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  85 

companionship  of  Jesus  himself  did  not  make  his  salvation 
inevitable.  Take  heed  therefore  how  ye  stand  and  where  ye 
stand  lest  ye  fall! 

When  we  mount  these  snapshots  of  the  twelve  men,  how 
varied  they  are !  How  wide  is  the  hospitality  of  the  Kingdom ! 
Somewhere  in  the  fellowship  and  service  of  the  Son  of  Man 
there  is  room  for  every  sort  of  temperament,  for  every  type 
of  man.  The  only  test  of  discipleship  is  the  one  he  named, 
"By  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  are  my  disciples,  if  ye 
love  one  another." 


XV 

THE    REAL   SOURCES   QF   HAPPINESS 
Matt.  5-12 

The  Master  gave  his  first  address  in  a  Httle  synagogue  at 
Nazareth.  He  appeared  later  at  the  larger  Temple  in  Jeru- 
salem. In  this  lesson  he  stands  on  a  hillside  under  the  open 
sky.  He  enlarged  his  audience  room  as  his  own  vision 
widened. 

He  went  into  the  open  not  merely  because  the  outdoors  was 
larger  than  the  indoors — he  went  because  the  people  were 
there.  "Seeing  the  multitudes  he  went  up  into  a  mountain 
and  opened  his  mouth  and  taught  them."  His  message  was 
called  out  by  the  appeal  of  life.  It  was  framed  up  in  the 
immediate  presence  of  life.  It  bore  directly,  every  line  of  it, 
on  some  real  problem  of  human  life. 

"Seeing  the  multitudes"  as  one  who  knew  what  was  in  man 
would  see  them!  He  knew  their  hopes  and  their  fears,  their 
sorrows  and  their  sins,  their  broken  plans  and  their  burdens 
of  disappointment.  He  saw  it  all  with  sympathetic  under- 
standing, and  the  very  sight  of  it  opened  his  mouth  that  he 
might  teach  them  something  of  abiding  worth. 
/'  He  saw  that  they  were  looking  everywhere  for  happiness. 
It  is  "what  all  the  world's  a-seeking."  Jesus  honored  that 
quest  by  making  the  first  word  in  his  Charter  Day  Address 
the  word  "Happy"  or  "Blessed,"  as  it  is  commonly  translated. 
But  the  misguided  people  were  looking  in  the  wrong  place. 
jThey  were  looking  outside  when  they  should  have  had  their 
eyes  turned  within. 

We  see  their  mistaken  successors  engaged  in  the  same  ill- 

86 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  87 

directed  quest.  "Happy  are  they  that  have  good  bank  ac- 
counts," men  say.  But  the  bank  account  repHes,  "It  is  not  in 
me  to  yield  unfailing  happiness."  "Happy  are  they  that  have 
university  degrees  making  them  intelligent  and  cultured,"  men 
say.  But  the  college  diploma  says,  "It  is  not  in  me."  "Happy 
are  they  who  are  successful,  who  have  their  names  written  in 
'Who's  W^ho.'  "  But  what  the  world  calls  "Success"  repHes, 
"It  is  not  in  me." 

Jesus  therefore  in  his  first  sentence  faced  them  about. 
Happy  are  they  that  are  gentle,  merciful,  pure-hearted  and 
aspiring.  Happy  are  they  that  hunger  and  thirst  after  a  higher 
life.  Happy  are  they  who  make  peace  and  pursue  it.  The 
outside  things  are  but  the  tools  and  machinery — they  are  all 
secondary.  The  inner  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  alone  are 
primary.  Jesus  therefore  said  in  effect  in  this  great  address, 
"If  you  would  be  deeply  and  permanently  happy,  seek  for  your 
happiness  within." 

"Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit" — not  the  men  who  crawl  but 
the  men  conscious  and  mindful  of  their  spiritual  necessities. 
They  seek  the  divine  forgiveness  and  renewal  that  with  an 
enduement  of  power  from  above  they  may  live.  The  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  belongs  not  to  those  who  "say  they  are  rich  and 
increased  with  goods  and  have  need  of  nothing" — it  belongs 
to  those  who  are  "poor  in  spirit,"  mindful  of  their  lack,  whose 
compelling  claim  upon  the  divine  abundance  is  that  they  "hun- 
ger and  thirst  after  righteousness."  Theirs  is  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  and  they  shall  be  filled  with  satisfactions  which 
never  perish. 

"Blessed  are  they  that  mourn."  Does  this  put  a  premium 
on  sorrow?  Is  mourning  a  thing  to  be  desired?  Blessed  are 
they  who  have  the  capacity  for  grief,  for  sympathy  and  tender- 
ness in  the  presence  of  any  occasion  for  sorrow.  The  occa- 
sions come  inevitably.     In  the  course  of  time  the  fathers  and 


88  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

the  mothers  of  earth  all  die.  Then  the  children  who  have 
loved  and  cherished  their  parents  suffer  grief.  The  children 
who  have  grown  hard,  careless,  indifferent  are  secretly  glad 
that  the  old  people  are  finally  out  of  the  way  so  that  they  can 
enter  upon  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  estate.  Blessed  are  the 
children  who  can  and  do  mourn ! 

The  man  who  walks  through  a  city  with  open  eyes  sees  pain 
and  poverty,  sin  and  suffering.  There  wells  up  in  his  soul  a 
great  compassion  and  sympathy.  Out  of  that  mood  is  born 
a  desire  and  a  purpose  to  do  something  to  relieve  that  need. 

There  are  those  who  pass  through  the  same  city  thinking 
mainly  of  their  ribbons  and  laces,  their  teas  and  their  dinners, 
their  clubs  and  their  games,  their  light-hearted  jests  and  their 
jolly  good  times — they  are  not  saddened  by  the  thought  of 
what  Hes  groaning  and  travailing  in  pain.  Blessed  are  they 
that  can  and  do  mourn  over  the  world's  need.  The  silly,  shal- 
low, light-hearted  nature  has  neither  the  normal  capacity  for 
sorrow  nor  the  clear  prospect  for  comfort.  Thank  God  for 
your  capacity  to  feel  grief,  know  sorrow,  cherish  sympathy, 
for  you  will  be  comforted. 

"Blessed  are  the  gentle'' — this  rather  than  "meek"  is  the 
more  accurate  translation.  "They  shall  inherit  the  earth." 
The  word  is  being  fulfilled  before  our  eyes.  It  has  been  . 
pointed  out  by  Charles  F.  Dole  that  the  fierce,  cruel,  blood- 
thirsty animals  and  the  huge,  awful  monsters  which  at  a  still 
earlier  day  possessed  the  earth,  are  vanishing.  They  have 
given  place  to  a  gentler  type  of  life.  Even  the  wolves,  the 
bears  and  the  lions  are  becoming  scarce — one  must  pay  money 
or  travel  far  afield  to  see  them. 

The  gentle  animals,  the  sheep,  the  cows  and  the  horses  are 
inheriting  the  earth's  space  and  the  earth's  food.  They  are 
on  the  increase.  They  have  shown  themselves  more  useful 
than  have  the  fiercer  animals;  and  as  the  ages  come  and  go 


THE   ONE  WHO   CAME  89 

the  principle  of  utility  determines  the  issue.  The  useful  inherit 
the  earth. 

The  fierce,  brutish,  savage  men  are  giving  way  before  men 
of  intelligence  and  character.  And  the  men  of  cruel,  selfish 
intelligence  will  more  and  more  go  down  before  the  march  of 
men  possessed  of  humane  and  philanthropic  spirit.  The  cen- 
turies are  committing  the  main  interests  of  earth  not  to  the 
Turks,  the  Thibetans  or  the  cannibals  of  the  South  Seas,  but 
to  those  nations  which  are  humane  in  spirit.  The  premium 
is  upon  the  spirit  of  humanity — it  will  ultimately  have  the 
field  to  itself.  The  process  demands  time — Jesus  said  "inherit 
the  earth,"  not  possess  it  at  once.  When  the  returns  are  fully 
in,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  humane  races  have  come  to  possess 
the  earth.     Blessed  are  the  gentlemen  and  the  gentlewomen! 

''Blessed  are  the  peacemakers" — not  those  who  never  fight 
but  those  whose  work  lays  secure  the  foundation  for  lasting 
peace.  The  hard  necessity  for  fighting,  unsought  but  un- 
avoidable, is  sometimes  laid  upon  those  who  love  peace  and 
pursue  it.  It  is  the  temper  and  quality  of  the  underlying 
abiding  purpose  which  Jesus  here  names  and  exalts. 

General  Grant  was  a  soldier  by  profession  but  a  great  peace- 
maker. The  four  brief  words  upon  his  tomb  yonder  by  the 
Hudson,  "Let  us  have  peace,"  are  most  fitting.  In  the  terms 
he  offered  General  Lee  at  Appomattox,  in  his  suggestion  that 
the  Southern  soldiers  keep  their  horses  because  "^they  would 
be  needed  for  the  spring  plowing,"  in  his  whole  bearing  in 
that  momentous  hour  of  victory,  he  was  beating  swords  into 
plowshares.  He  was  changing  the  destructive  temper  of  the 
country  into  a  productive  one.  Blessed  are  those  who 
habitually  make  peace. 

The  Prince  of  Peace  bore  the  name  of  the  greatest  soldier 
of  his  race.  The  name  of  "Jesus"  is  but  the  Greek  form  of 
the  Hebrew  "Joshua."     Into  the  presence  of  evil  he  brought 


90  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

"not  peace  but  a  sword."  He  thrust  hard  at  the  enemies  of 
the  divine  purpose  until  in  their  rage  they  turned  upon  him 
and  nailed  him  to  a  cross. 

But  he  was  none  the  less  the  greatest  peacemaker  in  history. 
He  broke  the  strength  of  moral  opposition  by  his  own  attack. 
The  quality  of  his  redemptive  service  was  such  that  he  laid 
foundations  for  enduring  peace.  He  is  taking  the  moral  gov- 
ernment of  the  world  upon  his  shoulders  as  none  other  ever 
has  and  the  day  is  hastening  when  all  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world  will  have  learned  to  live  together  in  the  spirit  of  an 
inclusive  humanity.  Blessed  are  those  whose  purposes  even 
though  they  stretch  through  fields  of  struggle  look  ever  toward 
a  settled  peace — "they  shall  be  called  the  sons  of  God." 

"Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart  for  they  shall  see  God."  By 
purity  of  intention  and  through  lives  of  devotion  they  gain  the 
faculties  requisite  for  spiritual  perception.  They  "see  God" 
because  they  have  within  their  ovn^u  spiritual  composition 
something  to  see  him  with. 

The  pure  in  heart  see  God  not  because  they  find  themselves 
more  advantageously  placed  in  some  altered  situation  conse- 
quent upon  a  day  of  judgment.  They  see  him  wherever  they 
may  be  because  the  organ  of  spiritual  recognition  has  come  to 
that  full  capacity  consequent  upon  purity  of  heart. 

"Eye  hath  not  seen" — it  does  not  come  through  physical  sen- 
sation as  Robertson  pointed  out.  "Ear  hath  not  heard" — it 
does  not  come  by  hearsay.  "Neither  has  it  entered  Into  the 
heart  of  man  the  things  that  God  has  prepared  for  them 
that  love  him" — the  unaided  imagination  finds  itself  equally 
helpless. 

It  is  not  because  the  things  which  God  has  prepared  are  so 
much  more  imposing  and  brilliant  than  all  that  our  eyes  and 
our  ears  and  our  imaginations  have  brought  to  us.  It  is  be- 
cause spiritual  values  are  spiritually  discerned.     God  reveals 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  91 

them  unto  us  by  his  Spirit.  The  pure  in  heart  behold  him  not 
as  an  ultimate  reward  for  their  purity  but  as  a  result  of  it  here 
and  now.  They  see  him  as  he  is  and  become  like  him  because 
they  reflect  as  in  a  mirror  the  glory  of  the  Lord. 

The  outward  circumstances  of  the  life  may  be  simple  or 
stately,  but  in  either  case  the  traits  of  character  outlined  in 
these  Beatitudes  become  abiding  sources  of  happiness  to  the 
possessors  of  those  qualities.  If  we  go  forth  to  meet  the  facts 
of  life  in  the  high  mood  here  suggested,  there  will  come  the 
inevitable  reaction.  Our  lives  will  be  filled  with  righteous- 
ness; we  shall  obtain  mercy;  we  shall  possess  the  Kingdom; 
we  shall  be  called  the  children  of  God ;  and  we  shall  see  God. 


XVI 

THE   LAW   OF   LOVE 
Luke  6: 27-38 

"But  I  say  unto  you,  Love  your  enemies."  When  the  par- 
son reads  a  passage  Hke  that  the  practical  man  as  a  rule  has 
his  answer  all  ready.  "It  can't  be  done.  It  isn't  a  reasonable 
proposition,"  he  says.  He  feels  more  sympathy  with  the 
moral  program  suggested  by  Huxley  and  indorsed  by  David 
Harum.  "Love  your  friends  and  hate  your  enemies.  Do  unto 
others  as  they  do  unto  you — and  do  it  first." 

This  has  a  rough  show  of  justice  on  the  face  of  it.  It  seems 
to  certain  minds  more  manly  and  less  sentimental.  But  there 
stands  the  word  of  Christ,  "Love  your  enemies." 

Then  as  if  that  were  not  enough,  he  went  ahead  piling  it  on. 
Bless  them  that  curse  you.  Do  good  to  them  that  hate  you. 
Resist  not  evil.  If  any  man  takes  away  your  coat  g\\t  him 
your  overcoat  also.  If  he  compels  you  to  go  a  mile  with  him, 
go  two  miles.  If  he  smites  you  on  one  cheek,  offer  him  the 
other.  Give  to  every  one  that  asketh  thee.  And  from  him 
that  would  borrow — this  seems  the  very  climax  of  unreason- 
able sentiment — turn  not  away! 

What  would  be  the  result  of  taking  these  commands  seri- 
ously and  literally?  "Resist  not  evil" — it  would  wipe  all  the 
policemen  off  the  slate.  ''Love  your  enemies" — what  then 
shall  we  do  for  our  friends  who  deserve  something  better  at 
our  hands  than  do  the  enemies  ?  "Give  to  every  one  that  ask- 
eth thee" — it  would  fill  the  streets  with  able-bodied  beggars. 
The  wills  of  many  would  go  lame  at  once.  Where  a  living 
can  be  had  for  the  asking  there  are  many  who  will  at  once 

92 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  93 

go  into  the  asking  business.  "From  him  that  would  borrow 
turn  not  thou  away" — this  seems  to  cut  the  ground  from  under 
the  feet  of  prudent  thrift  and  turn  it  over  as  a  prey  to  the 
shiftless.    What  an  impossible  program! 

If  we  face  these  commands  in  broad  daylight  without  flinch- 
ing or  pretense,  we  can  understand  why  Tolstoi  when  he  un- 
dertook to  practice  a  Hteral  obedience  to  the  command,  "Resist 
not  evil"  was  adjudged  by  many  as  insane.  The  Russian 
government  allowed  his  writings  to  circulate  when  other 
similar  writings  were  suppressed.  The  officials  said,  "He  is 
a  madman  anyway  and  the  people  will  not  take  him  seriously.'* 

But  there  stands  the  word  of  the  Master.  He  was  no  half- 
wild  enthusiast.  He  saw  clearly,  thought  deeply,  lived  divinely. 
Is  he  then  discredited  by  these  commands  or  are  we  ?  Was  he 
an  impossible,  abstract  idealist  hitching  his  wagon  to  a  star 
but  with  no  wheels  on  it  enabling  it  to  move  across  this  com- 
mon earth  and  render  useful  service?  Are  these  words  meant 
to  be  taken  at  their  full  face  value? 

In  the  Greek  Testament  two  different  words  are  used  for 
the  sentiment  we  call  "love."  There  was  the  more  general 
love  of  an  intelligent  good  will.  "Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bor as  thyself."  "He  loveth  our  nation  and  hath  built  for  us 
a  synagogue."  "By  this  shall  men  know  that  ye  are  my  dis- 
ciples if  ye  love  one  another."  "God  so  loved  the  world." 
This  was  the  "love"  to  be  shown  toward  an  enemy — it  was  not 
the  love  of  ardent  affection  but  the  love  of  an  intelligent  good 
will.  -v,:; 

Then  there  was  the  other  Greek  word,  expressing  an  in- 
timate personal  affection.  "He  that  loveth  father  or  mother 
more  than  me  is  not  worthy  of  me."  "Simon,  lovest  thou  me? 
Yea,  Lord,  thou  knowest  that  I  love  thee."  When  Jesus  stood 
at  the  grave  of  Lazarus  weeping,  the  Jews  said,  "Behold,  how 


94  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

he  loved  him."    Here  is  that  more  intimate  personal  affection, 
but  we  are  not  commanded  to  have  this  feeling  for  our  enemies. 

Yet  even  so,  it  is  to  be  no  idle  sentiment  lying  inert  in  the 
heart.  It  must  find  expression.  "Do  good  to  them  that  hate 
you" — you  must  act  the  part.  "Bless  them  that  curse  you" — 
your  bearing  must  be  kindly  even  in  the  face  of  a  moral  north- 
easter. "And  pray" — this  is  the  hardest  test  of  all  for  in  that 
quarter  where  no  successful  pretense  is  possible  we  must  give 
expression  to  our  undefeated  good  will — "pray  for  them  who 
despitefuUy  use  you."    It  is  a  hard  saying  any  way  we  take  it. 

We  shall  find  help  in  the  interpretation  of  this  passage  from 
the  principle  discussed  by  the  late  William  Newton  Clarke  in 
his  last  book,  "The  Ideals  of  Jesus."  The  principle  is  this: 
Let  your  own  better  nature  determine  your  action  in  any  given 
situation  rather  than  allow  it  to  be  determined  by  the  evil  doing 
of  others.  Do  not  allow  the  evil  in  others  to  rule  your  action 
— let  the  best  that  is  in  you  decide.  And  Jesus  after  the 
manner  of  the  Orient  put  this  sound  principle  in  the  bold 
paradoxes  found  in  this  lesson. 

How  that  principle  lights  up  this  entire  passage!  When 
some  man  strikes  you  a  blow  you  are  not  to  strike  back.  If 
there  is  to  be  a  second  blow  let  it  be  struck  by  him  on  your 
other  cheek  rather  than  by  you  in  the  spirit  of  retaliation. 
When  some  man  wrongfully  compels  you  to  go  a  mile  with 
him,  if  there  is  to  be  any  further  expenditure  of  energy  let  it 
be  in  going  another  mile,  rendering  him  some  further  service, 
rather  than  in  taking  vengeance  for  the  wrong  already  done. 

You  are  to  Hve  out  uniformly  the  generous  temper,  giving 
to  every  one  who  asks.  You  do  not  always  give  the  thing 
asked — you  may  give  rather  the  thing  needed  as  wise  parents 
do  with  their  children.  When  you  do  not  give  money,  you  give 
interest,  sym.pathy,  friendship,  personal  help  which  may  be  of 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  95 

more  worth  than  silver  and  gold.     In  every  case  your  action 
is  to  be  determined  by  the  demands  of  your  own  best  self. 

Jesus  grounded  this  mode  of  life  in  the  universal  moral 
order.  "Do  this,"  he  says,  "that  ye  may  be  the  children  of 
your  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise 
on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and 
on  the  unjust."  God  is  not  forever  bent  on  immediate  retalia- 
tion. His  action  is  determined  from  within — it  springs  from 
the  depths  of  his  own  moral  nature.  He  pursues  the  even 
tenor  of  his  way  in  certain  vast  and  stable  cosmic  habits,  send- 
ing the  sunshine  and  the  rain  quite  impartially.  And  when  he 
punishes  the  evildoer  the  discipline  also  is  suggested  and  alloted 
according  to  an  abiding  moral  purpose  in  the  heart  of  an 
Infinite  Father. 

Therefore  when  we  allow  our  actions  to  be  determined  from 
within  by  our  own  better  natures  rather  than  by  the  provoca- 
tion offered  by  men  of  ill  will  about  us,  we  become  in  spirit 
and  in  method  "the  children  of  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 

Here  is  the  sublime  end  which  the  whole  process  of  spir- 
itual nurture  has  in  view !  "I  will  write  my  laws,"  not  across 
the  face  of  the  sky,  nor  on  tables  of  stone,  nor  in  the  lines  of 
action  prompted  by  the  evil  doing  of  others.  "I  will  write  my 
laws  upon  their  hearts  and  I  will  put  my  truth  in  the  inward 
parts."  The  purpose  which  God  has  in  mind  is  the  gradual 
development  of  steadfast,  dependable  moral  personality  within, 
to  which  all  the  interests  of  conduct  may  be  safely  committed. 
The  special  action  suited  to  each  situation  may  then  be  left 
to  the  high  determinations  of  that  inner  life.  Out  of  your 
own  heart  are  the  issues  of  life  and  not  from  the  chance 
provocations  of  those  who  may  act  as  your  enemies. 

We  become  morally  free  and  spiritually  efficient  only  as  we 
rise  above  petty  rules  and  maxims  made  to  fit  special  occa- 
sions.    We  become  morally  free  only  as  we  rise  above  the 


96  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

current  practices  of  society  as  shrewdly  voiced  by  some  Hux- 
ley or  David  Harum.  We  become  morally  free  only  as  we 
rise  above  the  provocations  offered  by  men  of  ill  will  and  come 
to  have  our  own  standards  of  action  within.  "Where  the 
spirit  of  the  Lord  is,"  where  he  has  actually  put  the  content  of 
his  moral  message,  the  net  result  of  his  spiritual  nurture, 
"there  is  liberty,"  and  nowhere  else.  "Ye  shall  know  the  truth" 
by  the  intellectual  perception  of  it  and  by  experiencing  its 
power  to  renew  the  heart,  '*and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free." 

It  is  the  way  he  trod  who  uttered  these  high  commands.  He 
had  enemies  and  he  loved  them.  When  a  Samaritan  village 
refused  him  hospitality  his  disciples  wanted  to  call  down  fire 
from  heaven  and  burn  it  up.  But  he  said  patiently :  "Ye  know 
not  what  spirit  ye  are  of.  The  Son  of  Man  is  not  come  to 
destroy  men's  lives  but  to  save  them."  His  action  was  deter- 
mined not  by  the  rude  response  of  the  little  village  to  his 
request  for  a  night's  lodging  but  by  his  own  moral  nature. 

When  men  despitefully  used  him,  hanging  him  upon  a  cross 
between  two  thieves,  he  prayed  for  them.  "Father,  forgive 
them  for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  His  word,  "Love  your 
enemies,  and  pray  for  them  that  despitefully  use  you,"  was 
made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us  full  of  grace  and  truth.  His 
mode  of  action  throughout  was  determined  from  within  his 
own  heart  of  compassion.  He  dealt  with  men  not  according 
to  their  immediate  deserts  but  according  to  their  needs  and 
according  to  the  redemptive  purpose  he  cherished  on  their  be- 
half. And  because  he  furnished  his  own  high  standards  of 
action  his  life  became  morally  efficacious  beyond  any  other  life 
in  history. 

Beautiful  are  the  reactions  which  come  inevitably  and  cease- 
lessly from  this  mode  of  hfe.  "Forgive  and  ye  shall  be  for- 
given. If  ye  forgive  men  their  trespasses  your  Heavenly 
Father  will  also  forgive  you  your  trespasses."    The  world  will 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  97 

never  leave  off  quoting  the  tribute  paid  to  that  high  quahty 
by  the  master  of  EngHsh  expression.  It  has  learned  his  stately 
words  by  heart. 

"The  quality  of  mercy  is  not  strained. 
It  droppeth  as  the  gentle  rain  from  heaven 
Upon  the  place  beneath.     It  is  twice  blessed; 
It  blesseth  him  that  gives  and  him  that  takes. 
Tis  mightiest  in  the  mightiest;  it  becomes 
The  throned  monarch  better  than  his  crown. 


It  is  an  attribute  of  God  himself. 

We  do  pray  for  mercy 
And  that  same  prayer  doth  teach  us  all 
To  render  deeds  of  mercy." 


XVII 

THE    OLD    LAW   AND    THE    NEW    LIFE 

Matt.  5: 17-26 

It  was  the  Master's  way  to  gather  up  the  fragments  which 
remained  from  older  systems  about  to  be  superseded  by  the 
bounty  of  his  own  teaching  that  nothing  should  be  lost.  He 
would  not  destroy  the  dotting  of  an  i  or  the  crossing  of  a  ^ 
in  the  old  law — he  would  supplement  its  lack  and  bring  it  to 
completion.    *T  came  not  to  destroy  but  to  fulfill." 

The  role  of  the  iconoclast  is  not  difficult — it  is  easy,  like  that 
of  the  bull  in  the  china  shop  and  oftentimes  as  futile.  The 
task  of  the  man  who  would  patiently  conserve  the  values  in 
efforts  confessedly  imperfect  and  carry  on  the  work  of  vital 
fulfillment  is  higher  and  harder — and  incomparably  more 
rewarding. 

In  the  critical  treatment  of  the  Bible,  where  the  untenable 
views  of  literal  inerrancy  have  been  handled  without  gloves; 
in  the  radical  criticism  of  the  existing  social  order  where  the 
spirit  of  competition  as  a  source  of  motive  has  been  given  no 
quarter;  in  the  harsh  scrutiny  of  pubUc  men  and  pubHc  mea- 
sures where  the  righteous  intents  have  sometimes  been  slain 
with  the  wicked  by  withering  condemnation  not  unlike  that 
which  fell  upon  Sodom,  it  has  seemed  to  some  men  of  more 
patient  temper  that  the  work  of  destruction  has  proceeded 
quite  far  enough — that  the  common  interest  might  now  be 
better  served  by  men  whose  joy  it  is  "not  to  destroy  but  to 
fulfill." 

The  Master  indicated  with  unsparing  candor  the  defective 
quality  of  the  current  morality.     ''Except  your  righteousness 

98 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  99 

exceed  the  righteousness  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall 
in  no  case  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven."  Their  right- 
eousness was  altogether  too  external.  It  busied  itself  with 
small  matters  like  the  tithing  of  pepper  and  salt  and  mustard 
to  the  neglect  of  the  weightier  matters  of  justice,  mercy  and 
truth.  It  also  lacked  the  spontaneity  of  that  joyous  obedience 
which  springs  from  a  sense  of  filial  relationship  to  the  Father. 

The  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  taking  them  by  and  large,  were 
not  bad  men.  There  were  "bhnd  guides  and  whited  sepul- 
chres," "hypocrites  and  serpents,"  among  them,  but  they  would 
have  averaged  much  higher  than  this  characterization  might 
indicate.  The  glaring  defect  lay  in  their  system — they  were 
intent  on  keeping  rules;  they  sought  to  "pay  their  way"  with 
the  Lord  by  proper  attention  to  outward  observance  while 
their  hearts  remained  far  from  that  loving,  joyous  obedience 
consequent  upon  genuine  sonship  in  the  divine  family. 

It  is  impossible  to  produce  a  gentleman  or  a  lady  by  pains- 
taking attention  to  minute  rules  of  etiquette  in  some  book  of 
deportment.  Even  though  that  studied  politeness  exceeds  the 
scheme  of  decorum  outlined  in  "Answers  to  Correspondents" 
in  some  widely  read  journal,  the  result  is  but  a  mechanical 
attention  to  certain  moves  in  the  game  stopping  far  short  of 
genuine  good  breeding.  True  politeness  can  only  spring  from 
thoughtful,  genuine,  unselfish  consideration  for  the  pleasure 
and  well-being  of  others  expressing  itself  in  fitting  word  and 
deed.  Out  of  the  heart  issues  that  courtesy  which  marks  the 
gentle-man,  the  gentle-woman. 

The  Master  applies  this  principle  in  searching  fashion  to  the 
sin  of  maHce.  It  was  said  by  them  of  old  time  and  it  is  said 
by  all  the  ordinances  of  God  and  man  today,  "Thou  shalt  not 
kill."  And  a  cast  of  this  moral  injunction  is  so  far  taken  as 
a  matter  of  course  as  scarcely  to  secure  a  "rise"  from  the 


100  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

ordinary  conscience.  It  is  the  rarest  thing  for  these  words 
to  fall  upon  the  ear  of  any  one  who  has  a  thought  of  murder. 

There  is  however  not  only  the  murder  of  the  hand  but  also 
the  murder  of  the  heart.  The  man  with  no  blood  on  his  hand 
may  have  red  malice  in  his  heart.  The  ill  will  which  would 
destroy  the  peace  of  another  life  or  strike  down  its  dearly 
cherished  hopes  is  a  violation  of  the  command.  The  killing 
of  another  life  is  not  solely  a  question  of  spilling  blood.  The 
wounding  of  another's  honor  in  malice,  the  destruction  of  his 
good  name,  the  dashing  of  the  cup  of  joy  out  of  his  hands,  the 
thv/arting  of  his  plan  for  life  and  usefulness  become  nothing 
less  than  murderous.    They  take  Hfe. 

The  Revised  Version  removes  the  softening  qualification 
"without  cause,"  which  some  moral  sluggard  intent  upon 
easier  terms  had  wrongly  interpolated — "Every  one  who  is 
angry  with  his  brother  shall  be  in  danger  of  the  judgment."  The 
ill  will  and  malice  which  make  against  the  peace  and  well- 
being  of  other  lives  even  though  they  never  become  actually 
red-handed  by  murderous  acts  here  stand  condemned. 

The  heart  of  ill  will,  according  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus,  can- 
not oflfer  acceptable  worship.  "If  thou  bring  thy  gift  to  the 
altar  and  there  remember  that  thy  brother  has  aught  against 
thee" — even  though  his  grudge  be  not  well  founded,  there 
must  be  an  effort  to  remove  it — "leave  there  thy  gift  before 
the  altar;  first  be  reconciled  to  thy  brother,  then  come  and 
offer  thy  gift."  The  horizontal  relationships  of  life  must  be 
made  right  so  much  as  lieth  in  us,  if  we  would  have  the  per- 
pendicular relation  fruitful  when  we  offer  worship.  If  we 
would  "ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord"  or  "stand  in  a  holy 
place"  we  must  come  with  "clean  hands" — no  blood  on  them — 
and  with  "pure  hearts,"  devoid  of  malice. 

The  Master  makes  the  same  searching  application  of  the  law 
of  purity.     The  command  regarding  adultery  is  violated  by 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  101 

the  overt  act.  It  is  also  violated  "in  the  heart"  where  "the 
greedy  gaze  of  lust  intended  to  keep  warm  the  unlawful  desire" 
is  allowed.  He  puts  his  law  in  the  heart  where  it  belongs  and 
insists  upon  truth  in  the  inward  parts. 

The  evil  act  is  a  symptom  indicative  of  wrong  conditions 
underlying  it.  The  wise  physician  studies  symptoms,  for  they 
enter  into  all  competent  diagnosis,  but  he  treats  conditions  and 
causes.  If  a  woman  has  a  headache  a  little  antipyrin  or 
phenacetin  or  some  other  wretched  coal  tar  preparation,  which 
many  thoughtless  people  are  taking  in  these  days  to  their  hurt, 
will  stop  it.  But  the  wise  physician  ascertains  the  cause  of 
the  headache  and  treats  that.  He  goes  to  the  root  of  the  mat- 
ter. He  seeks  to  remove  the  cause  that  there  may  not  be  a 
fresh  supply  of  headache  to  be  drugged  into  insensibility  next 
week.  This  course  of  action  differentiates  the  physician  from 
the  quack.  It  lifts  his  treatment  above  the  use  of  some  cheap 
concoction  advertised  in  the  newspapers  and  sold  to  the 
unthinking. 

The  Great  Physician  who  came  not  to  the  "whole"  but  to 
the  "sick,"  not  to  call  the  righteous  but  sinners,  pursues  the 
same  wise  course.  The  outward  deeds  may  under  compulsion 
be  brought  into  conformity  to  certain  rules  leaving  the  springs 
of  action  all  unrenewed.  In  that  event  the  symptoms  are 
altered  without  correcting  the  underlying  trouble.  The  legal- 
ism of  the  Pharisee  is  produced  in  place  of  the  character  of  a 
son  of  the  Most  High.  "The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect,"  fac- 
ing us  upon  a  set  of  ideals  which  are  right.  The  grace  of  the 
Lord  is  mighty,  renewing  the  springs  of  action. 

The  office  of  the  old  dispensation  which  produced  the  best 
to  be  found  among  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  was  that  of  the 
law-giver.  The  office  of  the  new  dispensation  which  is  de- 
signed to  produce  all  the  fine  fruits  of  the  Spirit  growing  stead- 
ily and  organically  out  of  a  renewed  heart,  is  the  office  of  a 


102  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

life-giver.  It  was  said  by  one  of  old  time,  "Now  these  are  the 
commandments,  the  statutes  and  the  judgments  which  the 
Lord  your  God  commandeth  to  teach  you  that  ye  might  do 
them."  The  Master  said,  *1  am  come  that  they  might  have 
life  and  have  it  more  abundantly." 

The  replacing  of  the  formal  law  of  righteousness  by  the 
more  exacting  liberty  of  the  spirit  does  not  mean  any  lessening 
of  the  emphasis  upon  the  necessity  for  right  living.  There 
can  be  no  substitute  for  righteousness.  The  striking  summary 
made  by  Matthew  Arnold  voices  a  great  truth.  "The  message 
of  the  Old  Testament  is,  'Salvation  by  righteousness.'  The 
message  of  the  New  Testament  is,  'Righteousness  through 
Jesus  Christ.'  "  In  either  case  the  supreme  demand  is  a  right- 
ened  life  which  is  our  holy,  acceptable  and  reasonable  service. 
The  insistence  upon  inwardness  contained  in  this  message  is 
the  demand  that  the  righteousness  shall  be  vital. 

The  immediate  necessity  of  making  the  attitude  of  heart 
right  within  was  here  urged.  "Agree  with  thine  adversary 
quickly."  Do  it  now.  He  may  die  tonight  and  you  would 
always  reproach  yourself  if  you  allowed  him  to  carry  into 
the  unseen  world  the  burden  of  your  ill  will.  He  may  live 
and  he  needs  the  added  help  of  your  fraternal  regard  even 
as  you  need  it  for  your  own  peace  and  growth.  Agree  with 
thine  adversary  quickly. 

"Slow  to  anger,  plenteous  in  mercy."  Put  the  speed  limit 
on  your  condemnations.  Lay  in  a  full  supply  of  kindliness  to 
keep  your  hearth  and  your  heart  warm  the  long  winter 
through.  To  be  reconciled  to  our  fellows  becomes  a  mighty 
aid  in  effecting  reconciliation  to  God. 

When  the  honest  merchant  is  patient  and  merciful  with  some 
dishonest  clerk,  shielding  him  from  exposure  and  allowing  him 
time  and  chance  to  make  restitution ;  when  the  man  of  truth  is 
patient  with  some  liar  that  he  may  win  him  to  a  life  worthy  of 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  103 

confidence ;  when  a  pure  wife  forgives  and  bears  with  the  mis- 
deeds of  a  husband  who  has  done  wrong;  when  parents  hav- 
ing given  their  substance  for  the  good  of  their  children  only  to 
have  that  affectionate  interest  wasted  in  conscienceless  living 
persist  in  unselfish  devotion;  and  when  the  Infinite  forgives 
those  who  have  insulted  his  merciful  patience — in  every  such 
case  the  one  who  extends  forgiveness  in  his  effort  to  effect  a 
reconciliation  goes  outside  the  city  walls  to  a  place  called  Cal- 
vary. He  there  suffers  for  the  wrongdoing  of  others.  And  in 
every  such  case  we  find  a  form  of  righteousness  which  exceeds 
the  righteousness  which  is  by  rule — we  find  a  form  of  right- 
eousness destined  to  become  morally  efficacious  in  taking  away 
the  sin  of  the  world. 


XVIII 
THE  VALUE  OF  TRUE  AND  I^INDLY  SPEECH 

Matt.  5: 33-37 

The  liar  counterfeits  the  circulating  medium  of  society. 
Social  intercourse  with  any  measure  of  value  is  only  possible 
on  a  basis  of  confidence  and  the  man  who  lies  would  break 
down  popular  confidence  in  the  coin  of  that  realm.  The  lack 
of  veracity  is  therefore  more  than  a  personal  fault,  or  the 
deception  of  an  individual — it  is  an  act  of  violence  against 
the  social  order. 

If  my  watch  lies  to  me,  I  may  miss  a  train  or  an  important 
engagement.  If  a  man  lies  to  me,  I  am  similarly  misled.  If 
lying  becomes  common  then  the  prevailing  uncertainty  as  to 
where  reliance  can  be  placed  and  where  it  must  be  withheld 
is  such  as  to  defeat  the  very  ends  of  social  contact. 

The  cowardice  of  the  lie  stamps  it  with  an  added  meanness. 
In  the  long  run  we  must  live  on  a  basis  of  fact  and  brave  men 
ask  nothing  better — they  will  tolerate  nothing  less.  The  cow- 
ard and  the  sneak  who  lie  seek  to  introduce  some  soft  fabric 
of  falsehood  on  which  they  may  enjoy  a  brief  season  of  com- 
fort.   The  man  of  courage  tells  the  truth  even  when  it  hurts. 

The  habit  of  insincerity  eats  out  the  moral  fiber.  The  man 
who  lives  by  misrepresentation  comes  speedily  to  be  lath  and 
plaster  where  he  should  be  solid  oak.  The  amenities  tinged 
with  unreality  fail  of  efficiency.  Social  insincerity  becomes 
a  bar  to  good  fellowship.  The  fulsome  praise  in  funeral  ad- 
dresses has  done  much  to  rob  that  service  of  the  intended 
comfort.  The  prevalence  of  extravagant  statement  and  wilful 
misrepresentation  in  advertising  has  weakened  the  appeal  of 

104 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  105 

"paid  matter."  The  false  statement  in  business  transactions 
occasions  shame  and  grief  to  men  of  commercial  integrity  and 
honor  as  bringing  reproach  upon  their  order.  The  careless 
inaccuracy  in  letters  of  recommendation  has  discounted  the 
face  value  of  all  such  missives. 

The  taint  of  unveracity  has  invaded  the  holiest  domains. 
The  sectarian  zeal  which  overstates  the  worth  of  particular 
values  in  our  total  Christianity  lowers  the  church  in  the  eyes 
of  men;  the  extravagant  claim  made  for  the  Bible  that  "it  is 
the.  infallible  word  of  God  from  hd  to  lid"  smacks  of  the  pro- 
moter conscious  that  he  is  over-praising  his  wares  and  ex- 
pectant of  a  scaling  down  of  his  claims  by  discriminating 
listeners,  has  brought  discredit  upon  the  cause  it  would  serve ; 
the  exaggerated  efforts  of  partisans  who  "point  with  pride" 
and  "view  with  alarm"  far  beyond  anything  justified  by  the 
facts  cloud  the  issue  and  hinder  statesmanship;  the  habit  of 
special  pleading  becomes  a  foe  to  serious  argument  and  to  the 
advance  of  knowledge  by  honest  conference;  the  lack  of  ac- 
curacy and  balance  in  the  fervent  appeal  of  the  reformer  cause 
his  attempts  to  seem  unreal  and  hinder  the  cause  he  would 
advance. 

The  word  of  the  Lord  is  blunt — "Lying  lips  are  an  abomina- 
tion to  the  Lord."  This  terse  verdict  rendered  by  a  higher 
court  upon  all  manner  of  insincerity  is  affirmed  here  below 
in  the  attitude  held  by  all  serious  men  who  rejoice  in  a  close 
fit  between  the  words  used  and  the  facts  in  the  case.  The 
maintenance  of  public  and  private  speech  in  such  measure  of 
confidence  as  will  make  of  it  a  reliable  medium  for  the 
transaction  of  all  kinds  of  business  is  a  weighty  obligation. 

"Let  your  yea  be  yea,"  and  not  some  clever  approximation 
to  it.  The  notion  that  some  advantageous  plea  of  "not  guilty" 
may  be  entered  later  because  of  the  fluid  character  of  the 
utterance  is  scandalous.     "Let  your  nay  be  nay,"  with  no 


106  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

swerving  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left.  Whatsoever  is  not 
this  Cometh  of  evil. 

So  vital  was  this  matter  of  veracity  deemed  by  James,  the 
apostle  of  common  sense,  that  he  bestows  this  high  praise  upon 
accurate  and  honest  speech :  "If  any  man  offend  not  in  word, 
the  same  is  a  perfect  man."  The  control  of  the  tongue  is  made 
a  kind  of  test  case.  If  the  man's  moral  nature  rings  true  at 
this  point  the  apostle  stands  ready  to  give  him  a  clean  bill  of 
health.  The  habit  of  wise  and  kind  speech  with  never  a  break 
from  the  law  of  fact  or  the  law  of  love  indicates  a  moral 
soundness  worthy  of  all  confidence. 

The  tremendous  significance  of  the  tongue  is  here  declared 
in  strong  terms.  "We  put  bits  in  the  horses'  mouths  that  they 
may  obey  us,"  and  even  though  the  bit  is  small,  it  controls  the 
situation.  "The  ships  though  they  be  so  great  and  are  driven 
by  fierce  winds  are  turned  about  with  a  very  small  helm. 
Even  so  the  tongue  is  a  little  member  and  boasteth  great 
things" — it  holds  the  key  to  the  situation. 

On  the  day  of  Pentecost  the  men  who  were  to  turn  the 
world  upside  down  saw  "tongues  like  as  of  fire."  Presently 
they  began  to  speak  "with  other  tongues  as  the  Spirit  gave 
them  utterance."  The  organ  of  instruction,  of  persuasion,  of 
moral  appeal  was  thus  exalted  and  its  mighty  potency  for  good 
indicated  in  these  mysterious  terms. 

And  the  converse  of  this  proposition  stands  equally  plain. 
"How  great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth."  The  overturning  of 
a  lamp  at  milking  tiriie  by  Mrs.  O'Leary's  cow  lays  the  great 
city  by  the  Lake  in  ashes.  The  careless  flinging  away  of  a 
lighted  cigar  sets  ablaze  the  whole  forest  in  Eastern  Wash- 
ington and  Northern  Idaho.  The  forest  fire  rages  until  many 
lives  and  an  untold  amount  of  property  pay  the  forfeit.  Even 
so  the  tongue  may  by  untrue  or  unkind  speech  start  a  con- 
flagration of  evil  which  the  efforts  of  years  will  not  quench. 


THE   ONE  WHO  CAME  107 

The  steady  control  of  speech  by  the  spirit  of  veracity  and 
of  fraternity  demands  some  superhuman  aid.  "Every  kind 
of  beast  and  of  bird,  of  serpent  and  of  things  in  the  sea  hath 
been  tamed  but  the  tongue  can  no  man  tame."  The  lion  tamer 
whose  intrepid  eye  and  steadfast  soul  cause  the  king  of  beasts 
to  cower  at  his  feet  finds  himself  helpless  here.  Our  only 
hope  lies  in  the  enthronement  of  God's  grace  in  the  heart 
setting  the  lips  to  speak  his  truth  and  the  mouth  to  shew  forth 
his  praise. 

The  twofold  capacity  of  this  particular  faculty  for  good  and 
for  ill  seems  amazing.  The  same  fountain  cannot  send  forth 
"sweet  water  and  bitter."  The  fig  tree  does  not  bear  both  figs 
and  olive  berries.  But  "out  of  the  same  mouth  proceedeth 
blessing  and  cursing."  And,  alas !  the  differing  streams  alter- 
nate in  the  same  life.  The  lips  which  reverently  voice  the 
prayer  of  aspiration  or  the  song  of  gratitude  are  sometimes 
found  giving  shape  to  careless,  cruel  gossip  or  to  inaccurate 
and  uncharitable  speech  working  ill  to  one's  neighbor.  When 
the  apostle  says,  "These  things  ought  not  so  to  be,"  the 
response  of  human  society  comes  in  a  loud  Amen. 

There  are  professing  Christians  who  dig  deep  the  graves  of 
all  their  prospects  for  spiritual  usefulness  not  with  spades  but 
with  their  soft,  red  tongues.  They  bury  beyond  the  hope  of  a 
resurrection  the  chance  they  had  for  moral  efficacy  in  the 
service  of  the  Master. 

And  the  possibilities  of  exalted  usefulness  by  the  right  use 
of  speech  are  no  less  great.  "A  soft  answer  turneth  away 
wrath."  The  reactions  secured  by  kindly  speech  even  in  situa- 
tions unpromising  fill  the  heart  with  hope.  How  differently 
the  same  sentiment  may  be  uttered.  "Keep  off  the  grass,"  is 
short,  sharp  and  peremptory — and  it  almost  provokes  by  its 
very  tone  an  open  disregard  of  the  injunction.  "Why  not  use 
the  walk?"  conveys  the  same  intent,  and  much  more  win- 


108  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

somely !    The  same  tongue  may  voice  the  same  sentiment  in  a 
way  to  elicit  "blessing"  or  "cursing." 

"Words  fitly  spoken  are  like  apples  of  gold  in  pitchers  of 
silver."  It  is  a  gracious  picture  of  accurate,  temperate,  well- 
reasoned  and  kindly  speech.  And  it  lies  within  the  power  of 
every  possessor  of  a  tongue  to  mint  such  evidences  of  value 
and  put  them  in  circulation. 

The  three  monkeys  ingeniously  carved  on  the  frieze  of  the 
temple  enclosure  at  Nikko,  Japan,  show  one  of  the  group  care- 
fully covering  his  eyes  with  his  hands  and  another  similarly 
covering  his  ears  and  a  third  screening  his  mouth.  They  are 
resolved  to  "See  no  evil,"  "Hear  no  evil"  and  "Speak  no  evil." 
The  reproductions  of  that  group  have  circulated  far  and  wide. 
It  would  be  well  if  they  could  carry  from  the  tombs  of  lyeyasu 
and  lyemitsu  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  the  lesson  of  a  more 
charitable  outlook  and  intake,  coupled  with  a  kindlier  mode 
of  speech. 

The  Master  also  puts  himself  on  record  as  opposed  to  the 
habit  of  uttering  oaths.  He  would  not  detract  from  the  sanc- 
tity of  carefully  ordered  speech  in  courts  of  law  where  the 
invocation  of  the  divine  Presence  as  a  Witness  to  the  truth- 
fulness of  the  statements  made  is  supposed  to  add  to  the 
validity  of  the  testimony.  He  would  undertake  to  lift  our 
common  speech  to  that  high  level  of  veracity  where  it  would 
need  no  such  attestation.  "Swear  not  at  all,  but  let  your  yea 
be  yea  and  your  nay  be  nay." 

It  is  by  no  means  clear  that  he  would  forbid  the  use  of 
solemn  oaths  taken  reverently  in  courts  of  law  to  enhance  the 
sense  of  veracity  in  those  who  perchance  may  be  morally  im- 
mature. But  he  would  hold  before  us  as  an  ideal  the  simplicity 
and  accuracy  of  utterance  which  would  make  all  attestations 
superfluous.     Putting  one's  self  in  the  presence  of  God  upon 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  109 

occasion  by  the  employment  of  an  oath  may  mean  the  allow- 
ance of  a  measure  of  license  on  other  occasions. 

The  heaven  is  God's  throne  and  the  earth  is  his  footstool 
and  Jerusalem,  the  place  of  first  rank  in  the  minds  of  those 
Jesus  addressed,  is  his  city.  The  use  of  any  name  in  careless 
oath  thus  becomes  irreverent  and  profane.  Let  common 
speech  be  so  straightforward  as  to  need  no  sort  of  added 
affirmation  to  cause  its  acceptance  at  full  face  value. 

The  eschewing  of  all  oaths,  of  all  titles  and  of  all  showy 
forms  in  social  intercourse  or  in  religious  worship  by  a  certain 
branch  of  the  Christian  Church  has  given  to  that  group  of 
people,  not  numerous  but  widely  and  deeply  influential,  a 
simplicity,  a  directness  and  a  sweetness  of  spirit  upon  which 
the  busy  world  sets  high  value. 


XIX 

HYPOCRISY   AND    SINCERITY 
Matt.  6: 1-18 

There  is  a  delicate  irony  running  through  this  passage.  The 
Master  of  utterance,  voicing  his  message  as  none  other  ever 
has,  used  all  the  stops  in  the  organ  of  human  speech.  His 
picture  of  the  ostentatious  almsgiver  blowing  his  own  horn, 
"sounding  a  trumpet  before  him  in  the  streets"  as  he  made 
his  pompous  way  on  some  errand  of  mercy ;  the  showy  devotee 
praying  at  the  street  corner  to  be  seen  of  men  and  slyly  peep- 
ing through  half-closed  eyelids  to  be  sure  that  his  effort  was 
receiving  proper  recognition ;  the  long-winded  petitioner  lavish 
in  his  use  of  language  with  "vain  repetitions"  hoping  to  be 
"heard  for  his  much  speaking"  after  the  manner  of  unin- 
structed  heathen;  the  man  who  fasted  proclaiming  his  selT- 
denial  by  disfiguring  his  face  with  an  expression  preter- 
naturally  sad  that  he  might  "be  seen  of  men  to  fast" — all 
these  neat  cartoons  of  showy  insincerity  reveal  a  vein  of 
humor. 

The  swollen  windbag  of  pretense  can  sometimes  be  better 
punctured  by  the  keen  thrust  of  laughter  than  by  the  heavier 
blow  of  serious  argument.  The  "taking  off"  of  some  con- 
spicuous piece  of  religious  unreality  with  a  few  sharp  strokes 
may  have  more  value  than  many  serious  words  either  of  de- 
nunciation or  of  entreaty.  "The  merry  heart  doeth  good  like 
medicine"  in  more  ways  than  were  contemplated  perhaps  by 
the  author  of  that  Scripture — the  very  sight  of  hearts  made 
merry  by  some  witty  rebuke  directed  against  religious  insin- 
cerity may  produce  deep  and  lasting  good. 

"Take  heed  that  ye  do  not  your  alms  before  men  to  be  seen 

110 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  111 

of  them."  The  appreciation  of  our  fellows  is  not  to  be  scorned. 
All  men  enjoy  the  esteem  of  their  associates  and  they  ought  to 
enjoy  it.  The  young  fellow  cut  on  the  bias  always  flinging 
out  sneers  against  "popularity"  and  insisting  that  "he  does 
not  care  a  straw  what  people  think  about  him,"  probably  cares 
more  than  any  of  us.  He  has  an  idea  that  his  distorted  atti- 
tude will  cause  him  to  be  talked  about  more  because  of  his 
oddity  than  would  a  more  rational  course.  The  appreciation 
which  comes  naturally  by  right  living  is  to  be  prized. 

But  the  men  Christ  had  in  mind  were  making  that  form  of 
reward  a  supreme  object  of  desire.  The  doing  of  religious 
acts  from  an  irreligious  motive  corrupts  the  whole  inner  life. 
The  lack  of  consistency  in  such  case  destroys  the  fine  fibre  of 
the  soul.  The  men  he  described  were  arraying  themselves  in 
showy  garments  of  almsgiving,  of  devotion  and  of  self-denial, 
clearly  and  solely  to  be  admired.  And  that  the  measure  of 
admiration  elicited  might  be  generous  they  did  it  elaborately 
and  stood  ever  "in  the  public  eye." 

The  desire  for  esteem  is  a  disappointing  source  of  motive. 
The  boy  who  cannot  do  his  duty  unless  he  is  being  petted  and 
praised  for  it  is  a  sorry  specimen — he  is  in  line  to  become  a 
self-conscious,  conceited  little  prig.  The  man  who  cannot 
perform  unless  he  is  in  the  limelight  is  a  broken  reed  on  which 
in  some  crisis  the  applauding  multitude  may  lean  to  its  own 
hurt.  The  man  intent  upon  doing  square  work  and  square 
work  only,  regardless  of  the  presence  or  the  absence  of  popu- 
lar acclaim,  will  indeed  win  the  appreciation  of  his  fellows, 
he  scarcely  knows  how.  The  law  of  indirection  applies  here, 
for  the  man  who  aims  at  popularity  loses  it,  while  the  man 
who  loses  all  thought  of  it  in  the  devoted  investment  of  his  life 
finds  it. 

The  Master  made  his  appeal  for  simplicity  and  genuineness 
in  the  accustomed  paradoxes  of  the  East.    It  would  be  impos- 


112  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

sible  for  the  right  hand  and  the  left  hand  of  a  common  con- 
sciousness to  be  literally  unaware  of  their  respective  move- 
ments. The  straining  after  secrecy  becomes  itself  a  bit  of 
folly.  There  are  men  who  show  an  unnatural  eagerness  not  to 
have  the  left  hand  know  what  the  right  hand  is  doing,  espe- 
cially if  the  right  hand  is  not  doing  very  much.  The  Master's 
word  does  not  have  in  view  such  an  entirely  anonymous 
method  of  doing  good  as  never  to  connect  the  gift  and  the 
giver.  This  would  be  impracticable  and  in  many  situations 
"the  gift  without  the  giver  is  bare." 

But  Jesus  would  anticipate  the  word  of  Paul — "He  that 
giveth  let  him  do  it  with  simpHcity."  *Tt  is  more  blessed  to 
give  than  to  receive" — a  great  deal  more  blessed.  It  hurts  the 
independent,  self-respecting  life  to  "receive"  alms  at  all.  The 
Christian  donor  therefore,  for  his  own  sake  and  still  more  for 
the  sake  of  those  whose  need  he  would  relieve,  avoids  "the 
sound  of  the  trumpet"  which  might  fix  the  attention  of  others 
upon  his  bounty  or  upon  the  sad  necessities  of  a  fellow-being. 

Jesus  warned  his  disciples  against  the  habit  of  praying  on 
the  street  corners  to  be  seen  of  men.  "Verily  I  say  unto  you 
they  have  their  reward."  They  prayed  to  be  seen  of  men  and 
they  were  seen  of  men — they  got  what  they  prayed  for.  "They 
had  their  reward" — the  account  was  settled  in  full  and  there 
was  nothing  further  coming  to  them  from  that  sort  of  devotion. 

"Enter  into  thy  closet  and  shut  the  door  and  pray  to  thy 
Father  in  secret."  Jesus  is  not  here  defining  a  physical  act. 
He  is  insisting  that  every  prayer  shall  be  a  direct,  genuine  and 
thoughtful  transaction  between  the  soul  of  the  man  who  prays 
and  God.  The  minister  standing  in  the  presence  of  a  great 
congregation  may  none  the  less  enter  his  closet  and  shut  the 
door  if  his  prayer  is  offered  to  God  alone.  The  Pharisee  who 
went  up  into  the  Temple  to  pray  would,  unless  he  had  changed 
his  mood,  be  found  still  praying  unworthily  though  he  was 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  113 

located  Crusoe-like  on  a  lonely  island.  It  is  not  a  question 
of  physical  location  but  of  the  mood  and  intent  of  the  heart. 

The  enterprising  reporter,  sharing  fully  in  that  oft-remarked 
local  pride,  who  referred  to  the  somewhat  extended  invocation 
at  a  religious  convention  as  "one  of  the  most  eloquent  prayers 
ever  offered  to  a  Boston  audience,"  may  have  builded  more 
wise,ly  than  he  knew.  There  are  many  audiences  who  have 
eloquent  prayers  offered  to  them  in  such  fashion  as  to  quite 
banish  the  spirit  of  devotion  from  the  hearts  of  all  who  hear. 
Any  such  deliverance  even  though  it  may  be  made  in  proper 
posture  is  justly  characterized  as  a  "grandstand-pray." 

The  Master's  prophetic  eye  seemed  to  run  ahead  and  to 
note  the  futility  of  certain  prayers  where  the  length  and 
breadth  and  height  of  the  devotional  effort  were  not  equal. 
If  the  man  who  offers  a  pubHc  prayer  has  a  good  flow  of  lan- 
guage it  is  possible  for  him  to  continue  for  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  minutes.  If  he  has  a  reasonable  familiarity  with  con- 
temporary history  he  may  readily  find  openings  where  divine 
blessings  might  suitably  be  implored  in  such  volume  as  to 
make  the  breadth  of  his  prayerful  interest  stretch  as  far  as  the 
east  is  from  the  west.  And  it  is  possible  for  people,  some 
people,  to  keep  their  heads  down  and  their  eyes  closed  during 
the  whole  of  this  far-flung,  widely  ranging  and  long  drawn 
out  utterance.  But  it  might  be  painful  to  inquire  too  closely 
into  their  thoughts  during  all  that  time  or  into  the  ability  of 
the  m.an  himself  to  maintain  unbrokenly  the  mood  of  devotion 
and  the  sense  of  direct  appeal  to  God.  The  real  "height"  of 
the  prayer  might  bring  what  is  often  felt  by  the  patient  people 
to  be  "a  disappointing  sense  of  flatness." 

"Use  not  vain  repetitions."  The  heathen  do — "they  think 
they  will  be  heard  for  their  much  speaking."  We  should  have 
outgrown  this  folly  of  the  spiritually  immature.  It  were  bet- 
ter to  speak  five  words  with  a  clear  understanding  of  what  we 


114  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

are  about  and  with  an  unwavering  sense  of  the  august  nature 
of  devotion  than  ten  thousand  words  of  pious  sound  flowing 
from  the  lips  with  no  more  spiritual  vitality  in  them  than 
might  be  detected  in  the  efforts  of  a  good  talking  machine. 

"When  ye  fast  be  not  of  a  sad  countenance  that  ye  may 
appear  unto  men  to  fast."  You  are  not  doing  it  for  their  sake. 
The  beauty  and  value  of  such  acts  of  self-denial  are  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  they  are  personal  acts,  the  inner  life  striv- 
ing for  more  perfect  harmony  with  the  Infinite  life  of  the 
Father.  The  outward  acts  of  devotion  are  Hke  the  distinctive 
garb  appropriate  to  certain  moods  of  life  or  forms  of  service. 
It  was  Phillips  Brooks  who  said:  "The  nun's  quietude,  the 
priest's  purity,  the  mourner's  sorrow,  the  bride's  joy,  the  sol- 
dier's glory — all  are  first  uttered  and  then  deepened  by  the 
garments  in  which  they  are  severally  clothed.  First  you  give 
the  emotion  its  true  symbol  and  then  the  symbol  in  its  turn 
gives  new  strength  back  to  the  emotion." 

"Anoint  thy  head  and  wash  thy  face,  when  thou  fasteth." 
He  would  not  have  us  proclaim  our  acts  of  devotion  by  con- 
spicuous departures  from  the  ordinary  custom  of  our  lives. 
"The  Lord  looketh  not  on  the  outward  appearance  but  on  the 
heart."  The  disfigured  countenance,  pulled  awry  it  may  be 
with  a  sad  look  which  exaggerates  the  real  spirit  of  self-denial 
within,  does  not  impose  on  him.  In  the  long  run  it  fails  utterly 
in  the  eyes  of  men,  for  with  genuine  discernment  they  speedily 
sort  out  the  sham  from  the  real  thing — they  too  look  not  for 
any  length  of  time  on  the  outward  appearance  but  on  the  heart. 

The  principles  here  indicated  are  susceptible  of  wide  applica- 
tion. The  professional  smile  which  shows  more  teeth  than 
soul  is  sometimes  worn  to  be  seen  of  men  and  is  taken  off  at 
night  with  the  frock  coat.  It  is  a  wretched  bit  of  sham  mili- 
tating against  the  cherishing  of  that  honest  sympathy  which 
every  true  man  feels  for  all  his  fellows.     The  company  man- 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  115 

ners  which  are  worn  that  their  possessor  may  have  glory  of 
men  enter  speedily  into  their  reward.  They  become  as  thorns 
which  choke  the  spirit  of  genuine  courtesy  and  make  it  un- 
fruitful. 

The  whole  effort  to  keep  up  a  vigorous  and  handsome  body 
of  good  habits,  almsgiving,  prayer,  fasting  and  the  like,  with- 
out an  indwelling  soul  to  give  them  meaning  and  worth,  stands 
here  condemned.  "After  this  manner,  therefore" — not  always 
in  these  words  but  after  this  style  and  in  this  high  mood — pray 
and  live :  "Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  may  thy  will  be  done 
on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven." 


XX 

THE    USE    OF    THE    SABBATH 
Mark  2:2s — 3:6 

"The  seventh  day  is  a  Sabbath  unto  the  Lord  thy  God — in  it 
thou  shalt  not  do  any  work."  Here  is  the  letter  of  the  law! 
No  provision  is  made  for  the  exceptions  commonly  named 
touching  works  of  "charity"  or  of  "necessity."  "Thou  shalt 
not  do  any  work" — a  strict  enforcement  would  utterly  pre- 
clude the  strenuous  labors  of  preachers  and  teachers  who  on 
the  Sabbath  pour  the  utmost  of  vitality  into  their  appointed 
work.  The  letter  would  kill — it  is  to  the  spirit  and  intent  of 
the  com.mand  that  we  must  look  if  we  would  have  life. 

"The  seventh  day" — we  have  also  broken  av/ay  from  the 
particular  day  named  in  the  old  command.  The  seventh  day 
is  now  the  busiest  and  most  laborious  day  in  the  week  for 
merchants  and  housekeepers.  We  have  transferred  the  ob- 
servance to  the  first  day  of  the  week,  making  it  a  standing 
commemoration  of  the  fact  that  our  Lord  rose  from  the  dead 
"on  the  first  day  of  the  week."  The  day  has  been  changed 
and  the  spirit  of  its  observance  altered  by  the  coming  of  Christ. 

The  petty,  inflexible  rules  of  legalist  or  Pharisee  have  little 
worth,  but  these  four  great  principles  suggested  in  the  lesson 
invest  the  day  with  an  inalienable  dignity  and  worth. 

In  the  first  place  human  need  takes  precedence  over  ritual 
requirement.  In  an  emergency  the  hungry  disciples  were  right 
in  rubbing  out  the  heads  of  wheat  according  to  a  custom  pre- 
vailing in  the  country  districts  of  Palestine,  to  satisfy  their 
need.  In  an  emergency  the  action  of  David  and  his  men  in 
eating  the  shew  bread  ordinarily  reserved  for  the  priests  was 

116 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  117 

approved.  In  an  emergency  the  need  of  the  brute  takes 
precedence  over  ritual  regulation,  for  Jesus  said  that  men  were 
warranted  at  whatever  cost  of  labor  in  rescuing  an  unfortunate 
animal  from  the  pit  where  it  had  fallen. 

The  Master  would  not  counsel  men  to  spend  their  Sabbaths 
habitually  in  plucking  heads  of  wheat  or  in  working  with  live- 
stock. He  did  not  counsel  the  use  of  the  shew  bread  as  a  regu- 
lar ration  for  hungry  soldiers.  But  he  indicated  that  each 
situation  must  be  judged  on  its  merits  and  that  the  line  of 
action  must  be  determined  by  the  humane  considerations  in- 
volved rather  than  by  blind  obedience  to  ritual  requirement. 

In  the  second  place  the  true  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is 
not  negative  but  positive.  "It  is  lawful  to  do  good  on  the 
Sabbath  day" — it  is  unlawful  to  refuse  help  when  the  oppor- 
tunity for  service  offers. 

Here  in  the  synagogue  was  a  man  with  a  withered  hand. 
In  Luke's  Gospel  the  physician's  eye  and  the  humanitarian  in- 
stinct note  the  fact  that  it  was  "his  right  hand."  The  organ  of 
expert  and  useful  action  was  crippled,  greatly  reducing  his 
earning  power.  The  Pharisees  narrowly  watched  him  to  see 
what  course  Jesus  would  take.  They  asked  questions  if  per- 
chance they  might  find  occasion  to  accuse  and  discredit  him. 

Jesus  accepted  their  challenge.  "Rise  up  and  stand  forth 
in  the  midst,"  he  said  to  the  cripple.  Then  he  asked  his 
critics :  "Is  it  lawful  on  the  Sabbath  to  do  good  or  to  do  harm? 
To  save  life  or  to  destroy  it?"  The  manifest  justice  and  reason- 
ableness of  his  position  caused  them  to  "hold  their  peace." 
To  leave  a  withered  hand  unhealed  would  be  to  do  harm 
through  neglect.  Jesus  therefore  said  boldly,  "Stretch  forth 
thy  hand."  And  the  man's  own  active  faith  and  obedience 
combined  with  the  redemptive  power  of  the  Master  made  him 
every  whit  whole  on  the  Sabbath  day. 

There  are  people  who  think  they  are  keeping  the  Sabbath 


118  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

because  they  refrain  from  working  or  picnicking,  from  fishing 
or  going  to  the  baseball  game  on  that  day.  But  what  are  they 
doing?  Every  man  is  a  Sabbath  breaker  who  fails  to  utiHze 
the  special  opportunities  the  day  brings  for  the  advancement 
of  the  kingdom  of  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy.  To  spend 
the  day  in  reading  trash  or  in  gossip,  in  immoderate  eating 
and  intemperate  drinking,  in  the  mood  of  ill  will  or  sullen 
indifference,  is  to  break  the  Sabbath. 

To  do  good  on  the  Sabbath  is  lawful;  to  do  evil  by  doing 
nothing  is  unlawful.  To  save  Jife,  the  finer,  higher  Hfe  of 
reverence,  trust  and  obedience  on  the  Sabbath  is  lawful;  to 
destroy  or  to  endanger  that  life  by  careless  neglect  and  pro- 
fane habits  unfavorable  to  its  culture  is  unlawful.  The  whole 
attitude  must  be  positive.  We  keep  the  Sabbath  by  what  we 
do  rather  than  by  what  we  avoid.  And  the  responsibility  of 
meeting  the  demands  of  a  positive  and  useful  Sabbath  ob- 
servance is  the  best  safeguard  against  the  dissipation  which 
would  mar  the  day. 

A  third  principle  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  Sabbath 
is  to  be  viewed  as  an  opportunity  and  not  as  a  burden.  "The 
Sabbath  was  made  for  man  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  It 
was  made  for  man  as  food  and  water,  as  air  and  light  were 
made  for  him — it  answers  to  fundamental  need. 

The  French  in  a  wild  burst  of  insurgency  abolished  the 
Christian  Sabbath,  substituting  for  it  a  secular  rest  day  in 
every  ten  according  to  the  decimal  system  now  prevalent 
among  them  in  weights,  measures  and  coinage.  But  they 
found  that  it  would  not  work.  They  had  overlooked  the  fact 
that  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man.  They  were  compelled 
to  go  back  and  humbly  pick  it  out  of  the  scrap  heap  where 
they  had  flung  it.  They  had  to  re-establish  it  because  of  its 
beneficent  ministry  to  human  need. 

The  Sabbath  was  made  for  the  physical  man,  for  the  toilers 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  119 

who  rise  early  on  other  days,  for  the  salesmen  who  work  late 
in  retail  stores  on  Saturday  night,  for  the  operatives  who  are 
shut  up  in  factories  during  all  the  week,  for  all  the  weary  and 
heavy  laden.  They  all  look  forward  to  the  Sabbath  for  the 
enjoyment  of  prolonged  sleep,  for  the  chance  to  breathe  the 
outdoor  air,  for  the  healing  rest  which  comes  by  divine 
appointment. 

The  Sabbath  was  made  for  the  domestic  man,  for  the  toil- 
ing father  whose  long  hours  prevent  him  from  seeing  his  chil- 
dren during  the  week  except  by  gaslight,  for  the  hurried  busi- 
ness man' who  on  Sunday  deepens  his  own  acquaintance  with 
the  loved  ones  in  whose  interest  mainly  the  business  itself  is 
conducted. 

The  Sabbath  was  made  for  the  mind  of  man — the  quiet 
hours  with  good 'books,  the  sense  of  bathing  the  mind  clean  in 
real  literature  instead  of  soaking  it  in  the  muddier  waters  of 
hastily  written  dailies,  the  chance  for  reflection  and  meditation 
on  the  higher,  holier  phases  of  human  experience  all  come 
naturally  into  wholesome  Sabbath  observance. 

The  Sabbath  was  made  for  the  spiritual  man — the  chance 
to  worship  under  inspiring  leadership  and  in  goodly  fellow- 
ship, the  chance  to  pray  and  to  serve  in  a  fullness  of  privilege 
impossible 'on  other  days,  the  leisure  for  rendering  more  of 
**the  little  unremembered  acts  of  kindness  and  of  love"  all 
come  as  a  priceless  boon  to  the  man  whose  spiritual  nature 
under' the  pressure  of  the  work-a-day  world  would  otherwise 
fail  of  its  full  opportunity. 

The  Sabbath  was  made  for  every  such  man,  and  without  it 
under  conditions  at  present  inevitable,  whole  areas  of  human 
nature  would  suffer  an  unspeakable  neglect.  We  need  not 
split  hairs  or  match  pennies  with  those  who  ignore  Christian 
principle  in  lowering  the  standard  of  Sabbath  observance. 
We  can  meet  them  with  the  claim  of  Christ  that  the  day  stands 


( 


120  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

for  certain  opportunities  which  cannot  be  ignored  by  those 
who  would  possess  the  more  abundant  Hfe.  The  day  is  not 
imposed  by  arbitrary  authority  as  a  burdensome  bit  of  ritual 
— it  is  graciously  offered  as  an  opportunity  to  those  who  seek 
the  highest  self-realization. 

And  finally,  the  demands  of  a  perfected  humanity  furnish 
the  determining  principle  touching  the  use  of  the  day.  "The 
Son  of  Man  is  Lord  also  of  the  Sabbath."  The  life  intent 
solely  on  physical  gratification  or  social  pleasure  will  never 
know  how  to  use  the  day  aright.  The  day  can  only  be  inter- 
preted by  that  spirit  which  holds  in  view  the  ideal  manhood 
manifested  in  him  who  is  "Lord  of  the  Sabbath." 

This  principle  lifts  the  whole  question  out  of  narrow  bond- 
age to  the  letter  into  the  high  and  exacting  liberty  of  the 
spirit.  We  are  summoned  by  each  recurring  Sabbath  to  do 
and  to  leave  undone,  to  practice  and  to  avoid,  to  include  and 
to  exclude,  with  constant  reference  to  the  bearing  of  our 
decisions  upon  the  attainment  of  that  ideal  manhood  for  our- 
selves and  for  our  fellows. 

"By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know !"  What  type  of  man  is 
turned  out  by  Sunday  card  playing  and  careless  lounging,  by 
Sunday  golf  playing  and  endless  automobiling,  by  the  habit 
of  giving  up  Sunday  to  social  entertainment,  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  worship  and  spiritual  service?  Does  that  mode  of  life 
produce  the  public-spirited  citizen,  the  philanthropic  woman, 
the  devoted  worker  in  the  charities  of  the  city,  the  unselfish, 
spiritually-minded  Christian?  The  candid  man  admits  in- 
stantly that  careless,  easy-going  Sabbath  usage  does  not  prom- 
ise any  steady  or  considerable  supply  of  that  ideal  manhood 
or  womanhood  which  is  lord  of  the  Sabbath. 

A  missionary  to  the  Indians  once  told  them  that  if  they 
planted  their  corn  on  Sunday  it  would  not  grow.  In  that  per- 
versity of  spirit  which  we  all  understand,  they  immediately 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  121 

proceeded  to  test  his  claim.  They  planted  one  acre  of  corn 
on  Sunday;  they  hoed  it  on  Sunday  and  ''worked  it"  on  no 
other  day  but  Sunday  throughout  the  season.  And  because 
they  took  such  pains  with  it,  it  yielded  more  corn  than  any 
other  acre  on  the  reservation.  Then  the  Indians  laughed  at 
the  missionary  and  would  not  attend  church. 

There  is  a  penalty  however  for  hoeing  corn  on  Sunday.  It 
reveals  itself  not  in  a  diminished  yield  of  corn  but  in  the 
stunted  growth  of  "the  man  with  the  hoe."  The  corn  may 
grow  to  its  full  size,  but  the  man  will  not  grow  to  his  full  size 
nor  yield  those  fine  fruits  of  the  Spirit  which  belong  to  human 
life  at  its  best.  There  is  that  in  every  man  which  will  not 
grow  at  all  unless  it  be  given  the  advantages  for  which  the 
Sabbath  stands. 

The  day  awaits  us  as  a  lovely  green  spot  of  leisure  and  re- 
pair, of  higher  aspiration  and  spiritual  opportunity.  It  wel- 
comes all  those  who  plod  wearily  across  the  monotonous 
stretches  of  dusty  labor.  May  men  thank  God  for  it  and  use 
it  in  gaining  that  finer  manhood  which  stands  as  its  ultimate 
lord. 


XXI 

MALIGNANT   UNBELIEF 
Mark  3-^0-33 

The  reactions  which  the  work  of  Christ  produced  in  certain 
quarters  testify  to  the  deep-rooted  evil  he  came  to  remove.  It 
was  "a  strong  man's  house"  which  he  entered  and  spiritual 
vigor  of  the  first  order  was  demanded  for  the  binding  of  that 
strong  man.  Here  in  this  passage  the  evil  purpose  which 
spurned  his  ministry  and  finally  nailed  him  to  the  cross  began 
to  show  its  hand. 

"He  came  unto  his  own" — his  own  kinsmen — ''and  his  own 
received  him  not."  They  said,  "He  is  beside  himself" — he  is 
crazy.  "He  came  unto  his  own" — his  own  nation — "and  the 
scribes  which  came  down  from  Jerusalem"  (for  Judea  was 
already  arraying  itself  against  the  judgment  of  Galilee  upon 
his  Messianic  claims)  "said,  He  hath  Beelzebub."  They  in- 
sisted that  he  himself  was  possessed  of  the  devil.  What 
meaner  charge  could  blind,  unreasoning  malice  make! 

"He  is  beside  himself" — judged  by  the  current  standards 
the  charge  was  true!  He  was  what  the  machinist  calls  "an 
eccentric."  The  eccentric  in  mechanics  is  a  wheel  which  does 
not  turn  on  the  usual  circle — it  follows  its  ov/n  method  in  the 
curve  it  describes.  When  a  Russian  nobleman  of  our  day 
undertook  a  literal  and  painstaking  obedience  to  the  words  of 
Christ  as  he  understood  them,  men  said,  "He  is  crazy." 

The  method  of  the  Master  indicated  that  he  had  regard  to 
another  center  than  that  found  in  the  current  practice.  The 
popular  answer  to  the  famous  question  propounded  by  the 
Westminster  divines  would  have  read  in  that  day,  "The  chief 

122 


THE   ONE  WHO   CAME  123 

end  of  man  is  to  advance  himself  and  to  enjoy  his  personal 
success,  forever."  The  self-centered  life  would  not  have 
seemed  to  the  contemporaries  of  Jesus  ''eccentric"— they  never 
would  have  said  of  such  an  one,  ''He  is  beside  himself."  The 
pursuit  of  self-interest  would  have  seemed  to  them  entirely 
rational. 

But  another  mind  was  in  Christ.  He  did  nothing  through 
strife  or  vainglory.  He  looked  not  on  his  own  things  but  upon 
the  things  of  others.  He  thought  it  no  prize  to  be  grasped 
to  be  equal  with  God,  but  he  made  himself  of  no  reputation. 
He  took  upon  himself  the  form,  the  spirit  and  the  task  of  the 
servant  and  being  found  in  fashion\i^&.;a,^n  he  went  about 
doing  good.  He  humbled  himself  an(t|^|Sne  obedient  even 
unto  the  death  of  the  cross.  He  was  ''^eccentric"  in  that  his 
life  was  not  centered  after  the  manner  prevalent  in  his  time. 
He  turned  many  things  end  for  end  and  upside  down.  He 
bade  men  love  their  enemies  and  not  their  friends  only.  He 
insisted  that  they  should  do  good  and  not  harm  to  those  who 
despitefully  used  them.  He  said  "the  poor  in  spirit"  were  the 
fortunate  and  blessed  of  earth,  and  that  ultimately  the  gentle, 
not  the  grasping,  would  inherit  all  there  is.  He  said  that  if 
a  man  saved  his  life  he  would  lose  it;  that  security  could  be 
gained  only  by  losing,  that  is  to  say,  investing,  the  life  in  de- 
votion and  service.  In  these  strange  paradoxes  he  indicated 
his  philosophy.  It  was  a  complete  reversal  of  many  of  the 
current  judgments.  We  are  not  surprised  that  his  own  kins- 
men deemed  him  mad. 

But  when  the  prevailing  practice  is  wrong  side  up  it  must  be 
"turned  upside  down"  to  make  it  right.  When  moral  judg- 
ments are  awry  they  must  be  reversed  if  we  are  to  reach  the 
truth.  When  the  boldness  of  some  claim  startles  us  out  of  our 
accustomed  ruts  of  thinking,  it  is  wise  to  ask,  "Is  the  author 
of  that  word  mad  or  are  we?"     It  may  be  that  an  equally 


124  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

radical    reversal   of    judgment   may   be   demanded    from   us. 

The  stupid  bystanders  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  witnessing 
the  glories  of  spiritual  victory  could  find  no  better  interpreta- 
tion than  this — "These  men  are  full  of  new  wine."  The  ser- 
vant was  not  above  his  Lord — they  called  the  Master  "crazy" 
and  his  disciples  "drunken." 

But  the  Scribes  added  a  dash  of  malice  and  temper  to  their 
moral  stupidity.  "He  hath  Beelzebub  and  by  the  prince  of  the 
devils  he  casteth  out  devils."  This  Beelzebub  was  a  heathen 
deity,  the  god  of  the  flies,  and  the  charge  therefore  contained 
a  peculiarly  offensive  sneer  at  the  beneficent  work  accom- 
plished by  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  The  evil  forces  were  manifestly 
subject  to  him,  and  his  enemies  therefore  insisted  that  he  must 
be  in  collusion  with  Satan,  the  head  of  the  kingdom  of  evil. 

In  a  few  swift  strokes  Jesus  showed  the  absurdity  of  such  a 
claim.  "How  can  Satan  cast  out  Satan?"  Will  a  house  stand 
when  it  is  divided  against  itself?  They  might  feel  sure  that 
the  devil  was  not  committing  suicide.  The  kingdom  divided 
against  itself  cannot  withstand  its  own  speedy  dissolution. 

The  fact  that  the  evil  forces  in  many  lives  there  in  Galilee 
were  being  held  in  leash  and  were  being  cast  out  testified  to 
the  fact  that  a  stronger  man  had  entered  Satan's  house  and 
having  bound  him  was  now  defeating  his  purposes.  The  Mas- 
ter here  indicates  the  source  of  his  power  to  bless — it  lay  in 
his  own  personal  righteousness.  In  him  the  forces  of  evil 
were  naught  and  over  him  Satan  had  no  power. 

Jesus  was  grieved  by  the  turpitude  of  those  v/ho  made  an 
open  revolt  against  good  by  attributing  his  beneficent  work  to 
the  prince  of  devils.  "Woe  unto  them  that  call  evil  good  and 
good  evil ;  that  put  darkness  for  light  and  light  for  darkness ; 
that  put  bitter  for  sweet  and  sweet  for  bitter."  The  wicked 
reversal  of  all  sound  judgment  attributing  good  deeds  to  an 
evil  source  issued  in  a  moral  condition  which  Jesus  called  "an 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  125 

eternal  sin."  It  produced  a  moral  callousness  which  finds  no 
forgiveness  either  in  this  world  or  in  the  world  to  come  because 
it  neither  seeks  nor  desires  forgiveness. 

The  unpardonable  sin  here  suggested  is  not  the  utterance 
of  any  technical  word  of  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Spirit; 
it  is  not  the  commission  of  some  particularly  heinous  act  of 
disobedience  to  God's  law;  it  is  rather  the  gradual  fixing  of 
the  moral  life  in  a  false  attitude  by  that  type  of  perversity 
which  Jesus  found  in  those  Pharisees  who  would  refer  his 
good  deeds  to  Beelzebub.  At  last  there  is  no  capacity  left  for 
moral  response.  The  man  who  is  anxious  and  troubled  lest 
he  may  have  committed  the  unpardonable  sin  may  rest  assured 
that  he  has  not  committed  it — his  very  unrest  and  moral  sen- 
sitiveness proclaim  the  fact  of  life  within.  No  penitent  soul 
is  ever  guilty  of  that  sin. 

The  very  essence  of  Christ's  own  righteousness  and  spiritual 
efficiency  lay  in  the  enduement  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  He  was 
"filled  with  the  Spirit  from  his  mother's  womb."  "The  Spirit 
descended  on  him  as  a  dove,"  at  his  baptism  in  Jordan.  He 
"returned  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  into  Galilee,"  binding  up 
the  broken-hearted  and  accomplishing  deliverance  for  them  that 
were  bruised.  To  attribute  the  efficiency  of  his  efforts  to  the 
prince  of  devils  was  indeed  to  blaspheme  against  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  to  be  in  danger  of  an  eternal  condemnation. 

The  peril  of  attributing  that  which  is  good  to  an  evil  source 
is  as  modern  as  the  morning  paper.  It  is  the  belief  of  many 
wise  and  good  men  that  the  social  unrest  of  our  day  is  due  to 
the  functioning  of  the  divine  spirit  in  human  society.  The 
discontent  is  divinely  ordered  because  we  are  in  "a  far  coun- 
try" wasting  human  values  innumerable  by  our  unworthy 
mode  of  life.  Men  and  women  are  "in  want"  of  a  more 
equitable  share  of  the  good  things  they  have  helped  to  create — 
and  God  would  have  them  feel  and  cherish  that  want.    There 


126  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

is  a  widespread  insistence  upon  a  more  democratic  spirit  in  the 
control  of  industry — and  this  of  itself  is  an  assertion  of  the 
worth  and  dignity  of  human  nature  in  whatever  walk  of  life 
it  may  be  found. 

It  were  easy  to  brand  all  this  unrest  as  blind  and  ungrate- 
ful; to  denounce  these  resolute  demands  as  selfish  and  inso- 
lent; to  ofifer  an  affront  to  this  rising  tide  of  democracy  by 
terming  it  "the  voice  of  the  mob"  attacking  the  forces  of  peace 
and  order.  And  this  characterization  comes  perilously  near 
to  being  akin  to  the  sin  of  the  Scribes  of  old  when  they  at- 
tributed that  which  was  good  to  the  action  of  the  spirit  of  evil. 
A  more  careful  analysis  and  a  more  complete  synthesis  of  the 
social  aspirations  now  becoming  vocal  in  all  lands  would  in- 
dicate that  a  strong  man  has  entered  the  house  and  that  he  is 
destined  to  bind  the  forces  of  evil  which  have  been  working 
injury  to  the  weak.  He  is  insisting  upon  the  rule  of  those 
principles  which  are  at  once  humane  and  divine. 

Sore  punishment  is  decreed  for  those  *'who  have  trodden 
under  foot  the  Son  of  God  and  have  counted  the  blood  of  the 
covenant  an  unholy  thing,  and  have  done  despite  unto  the 
spirit  of  grace."  Sore  punishment  awaits  those  who  ruth- 
lessly trample  upon  the  moral  stirrings  which  would  lift  the 
unprivileged  section  of  the  race  into  a  sense  of  its  real  kin- 
ship with  God.  The  same  rebuke  will  be  given  to  those  who 
speak  contemptuously  of  that  spirit  of  sacrificial  devotion 
which  is  the  blood  of  a  new  covenant,  or  who  do  despite  to 
that  spirit  of  grace  which  is  causing  many  who  have  been 
sitting  in  darkness  to  see  a  great  light  and  to  walk  in  the 
strength  of  a  brave  hope. 

It  was  announced  to  Jesus  in  the  midst  of  his  searching 
rebuke  to  his  perverted  detractors  that  his  mother  and  his 
brethren  were  seeking  him.  He  had  no  word  of  disparagement 
for  the  value  of  those  relationships  which  are  after  the  flesh. 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  127 

Almost  his  last  word  from  the  cross  was  one  of  thoughtful 
provision  for  Mary,  his  mother.  But  he  recognized  the  fact 
that  moral  relationships  transcend  family  ties,  even  as  they 
underlie  our  physical  kinship,  giving  it  worth  and  stability. 
"Who  is  my  mother  or  my  brethren?"  He  swept  his  hand 
across  the  face  of  the  company  which  had  come  to  believe  on 
him,  and  added :  "Behold  my  mother  and  my  brethren.  Who- 
soever shall  do  the  will  of  God,  the  same  is  my  brother." 

The  sense  of  spiritual  kinship  is  deeper  and  more  lasting. 
It  takes  precedence  over  the  accidents  of  birth.  It  rises  supe- 
rior to  the  considerations  of  age  and  sex.  When  we  live  the 
filial  life,  doing  the  will  of  God,  we  enter  into  the  family  of 
the  Father  in  heaven  and  into  the  enjoyment  of  those  higher 
kinships  from  which  we  shall  go  no  more  out. 


XXII 

CLEAN    AND   UNCLEAN    MEATS 

Mark  7-  1-23 

"Then  came  the  Pharisees  and  certain  of  the  Scribes  and 
when  they  saw  his  disciples  eat  bread  with  unwashen  hands, 
they  found  fault."  The  blue-blooded  ecclesiastics,  more  care- 
ful of  their  traditions  than  of  moral  values,  more  intent  upon 
religious  technique  than  upon  the  weightier  matters  of  justice 
and  mercy,  were  on  hand  to  make  trouble.  They  were  power- 
less to  heal  the  sick  or  to  restore  the  sinful,  but  they  could 
"find  fault."  Their  noses  were  long  and  sharp  in  scenting  the 
least  departure  from  their  burdensome  traditions. 

Their  objection  to  the  unwashed  hands  of  the  disciples  was 
not  hygienic  or  sanitary — it  was  based  altogether  on  cere- 
monial grounds.  When  a  high  and  dry  Pharisee  came  in  from 
the  street  or  from  any  manner  of  contact  with  his  fellows  he 
scrupulously  washed  off  the  ceremonial  defilement  which  might 
possibly  have  fastened  upon  him.  Some  uncircumcised  Gen- 
tile might  have  touched  elbows  with  him  in  the  crowd  or 
allowed  the  wanton  air  to  blow  directly  from  his  objectionable 
person  to  the  sacred  form  of  the  Pharisee.  The  purpose  of 
this  fastidious  care  was  not  physical  cleanliness,  which  is  alto- 
gether desirable,  but  a  ceremonial  purity. 

They  had  made  religion  an  affair  of  washing  cups  and  pots, 
of  ceremonial  cleansing  of  vessels  and  of  tables.  The  great 
vital  things  in  religious  faith  and  observance  were  overlaid 
with  an  elaborate  regime  having  to  do  with  artificial  distinc- 
tions between  clean  and  unclean  meats,  between  ceremonial 
sanctity  and  ceremonial  defilement.    The  Pharisees  had  exalted 

128 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  129 

ecclesiastical  etiquette  far  above  righteousness  of  heart.  And 
generations  of  this  ill-directed  emphasis  had  produced  a  race 
of  men  of  whom  Christ  said  with  telling  accuracy,  "This  people 
honoreth  me  with  their  lips,  but  their  heart  is  far  from  me." 

The  system  as  a  system  stands  in  the  same  category  with 
the  highly  developed  scheme  of  taboo  found  in  the  Islands  of 
Polynesia.  In  Hawaii  it  could  only  be  imposed  by  the  priests 
and  was  intimately  associated  with  religious  faith.  But  else- 
where in  Polynesia  the  kings  and  chiefs  exercised  the  power 
of  taboo  and  used  it  oftentimes  to  serve  the  ends  of  ambition 
and  avarice.  The  selfish  appetites  of  men  led  to  the  making 
of  the  flesh  of  pigs,  fowls,  turtle  and  several  kinds  of  fish 
taboo  to  women — these  dainties  were  reserved  entirely  for 
gods  and  men.  Mothers  after  childbirth  were  taboo  and  so 
were  their  newborn  children.  One  of  the  strictest  taboos  was 
incurred  by  those  who  handled  the  body  of  a  dead  person  or 
assisted  at  the  funeral.  It  was  a  system  which  readily  lent 
itself  to  the  selfish  designs  of  kings  and  priests. 

In  its  inception  the  Hebrew  system  of  purifications  on  re- 
ligious grounds  may  have  had  some  value  in  educating  an  un- 
developed people.  The  utilization  of  these  various  observances 
as  symbols  may  have  aided  in  inculcating  in  their  minds  a 
clearer  conception  of  hoHness  at  a  period  when  abstract  ethical 
conceptions  would  have  made  no  effective  appeal.  But  with 
the  writings  of  the  great  prophets  before  them  that  educative 
value  belonging  more  properly  to  the  kindergarten  stage  of  a 
nation's  development,  had  passed  and  the  painstaking  insistence 
upon  the  fully  developed  system  of  minute  observance  had 
become  altogether  trivial. 

The  Master  allowed  and  encouraged  his  disciples  to  dis- 
regard those  empty  restrictions.  To  the  high  church  party  of 
that  day  this  seemed  the  most  violent  heresy  subversive  of  the 
entire  method  by  which  their  conceit  and  their  purses  had 


130  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

alike  profited.  With  a  show  of  moral  indignation  and  of  out- 
raged sanctity  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  they  called  the  atten- 
tion of  Jesus  to  the  delinquencies  of  his  associates — **Why 
walk  not  thy  disciples  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  elders 
— they  eat  bread  with  unwashen  hands!"  The  undiscerning 
ecclesiastics  had  learned  to  look  on  the  outward  appearance 
but  not  on  the  heart;  they  could  see  the  hands  of  these  dis- 
ciples; they  could  not  see  the  new  peace  and  joy  attained  by 
an  experience  of  the  more  vital  truths  of  religious  faith. 

We  feel  here  the  first  drops  in  that  coming  shower  which 
developed  into  a  storm  of  opposition  when  Paul  the  apostle 
of  spiritual  liberty  found  it  necessary  to  withstand  the  reac- 
tionary Peter  to  the  face  because  he  had  shown  a  vacillating 
attitude  regarding  this  very  matter.  "For  before  certain  came 
from  James,  he  did  eat  with  the  Gentiles,  but  when  they  were 
come  he  withdrew  and  separated  himself,  fearing  them  who 
were  of  the  circumcision."  O  foolish  Peter  and  foolish  ad- 
herents of  ceremonial  detail  in  every  land  and  time,  who  hath 
bewitched  you  that  ye  should  not  obey  the  truth !  Received  ye 
the  Spirit  by  attention  to  ceremony  or  by  the  hearing  of  faith  ? 

It  required  a  vision  and  a  voice  from  heaven  to  persuade 
Peter  that  he  was  not  to  call  "common  or  unclean"  what  "God 
had  cleansed"  in  his  own  beneficent  purpose.  He  must  see  a 
great  sheet  let  down  from  heaven  containing  all  manner  of 
beasts  and  birds  and  creeping  things  and  hear  the  injunction, 
"Rise,  Peter,  kill  and  eat"  before  he  would  find  himself  in  a 
mood  to  welcome  and  to  serve  "one  of  another  nation."  He 
had  to  be  providentially  prepared  for  the  appeal  of  Cornelius 
else  he  would  not  have  said,  '*I  perceive  that  God  is  no 
respecter  of  persons,  but  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  him 
and  worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  with  him." 

"Meat  commendeth  us  not  to  God.  Neither  if  we  eat  are 
we  the  better  nor  if  we  eat  not  are  we  the  worse,"  where  the 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  131 

distinction  in  meats  is  based  on  ceremonial  grounds.  It  is  not 
that  which  entereth  into  a  man  which  defileth  him,  but  that 
which  having  found  place  in  his  heart  proceedeth  out  of  him 
in  speech  and  action.  From  out  the  hearts  of  men  "proceed 
evil  thoughts,  adulteries,  fornications,  murders,  thefts,  covet- 
ousness,  wickedness,  deceit,  lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye,  blas- 
phemy, pride,  foolishness — all  these  evil  things  come  from 
within  and  defile  the  man." 

The  Master  stood  plainly  and  strongly  for  the  quality  of 
inwardness  which  came  to  be  the  cardinal  principle  in  the 
Gospel  proclaimed  by  his  leading  apostle.  He  knew  that  "the 
kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink"  taken  in  strict  accord- 
ance with  a  carefully  prescribed  ritual  "but  righteousness  and 
peace  and  joy  in  the  divine  spirit."  And  when  Paul  entered 
into  the  method  of  Jesus,  as  he  did  more  fully  than  any  of  the 
original  Twelve,  he  who  had  been  a  Pharisee  of  the  Pharisees, 
observing  "the  traditions  of  the  elders"  after  the  strictest 
fashion,  cried  out  in  his  joyous  sense  of  spiritual  liberty,  "The 
spirit  of  life  hath  made  me  free  from  the  law  of  sin  and 
death." 

The  Master  knew  what  relentless  opposition  his  course  would 
provoke.  But  having  counted  the  cost  he  set  himself  like  a 
flint  against  the  whole  method  of  "turning  religion,"  as  Dr. 
Nehemiah  Boynton  puts  it,  "into  an  affair  of  dish  washing." 
He  would  make  his  followers  free,  untrammeled  moral  agents 
loyal  to  that  law  of  God  which  is  within.  He  would  write  his 
precepts  upon  their  hearts  and  reproduce  the  spirit  of  his  own 
matchless  life  in  their  inward  parts.  He  would  lift  them  out 
of  that  bondage  to  the  letter  which  is  fatal  to  peace  and  joy 
into  the  high  and  exacting  liberty  of  the  Spirit  wherewith  he 
makes  men  free. 

When  the  Pharisees  found  fault  with  his  disciples  because 


132  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

of  their  inattention  to  minor  requirements  in  the  tradition  of 
the  elders,  the  Master  turned  the  tables  upon  his  critics  by 
showing  that  they  were  unfaithful  to  the  real  implications  of 
that  system  to  which  they  professed  such  devoted  loyalty. 

These  sticklers  for  religious  etiquette  were  in  the  habit  of 
relieving  themselves  from  their  filial  obligations  where  these 
had  become  exacting  by  a  kind  of  hocus-pocus.  They  took 
refuge  in  a  religious  bankruptcy  act  provided  by  "the  traditions 
of  the  elders"  according  to  which  if  the  talismanic  word  '*Cor- 
ban"  was  uttered  over  any  material  possession  which  might 
naturally  have  been  used  for  the  comfort  of  one's  needy 
parents,  the  selfish  son  could  retain  it  without  incurring  the 
sense  of  having  violated  the  commandment  of  God  touching 
the  duty  of  children  to  their  parents.  What  a  wretched  bit  of 
moral  shuffling  it  was! 

In  seeking  to  pierce  through  the  thick  hide  of  their  spiritual 
conceit  and  moral  callousness  the  Master  made  his  words 
plain  almost  to  the  point  of  offense,  but  there  was  cause. 
"What  a  man  eats,"  he  said,  "enters  not  into  his  heart  but  into 
his  stomach  and  goeth  out  into  the  draught.  This  defiles  not 
the  man."  But  the  principles  of  action  which  a  man  cherishes 
are  resident  in  his  heart  and  when  these  are  selfish,  mean  and 
cruel,  they  defile  the  man. 

By  these  pungent  words  he  struck  at  the  very  root  of  tradi- 
tionalism and  of  ceremonialism.  He  would  have  religious 
observance  the  fresh  expression  of  the  divine  spirit  as  it  func- 
tions in  the  hearts  of  men  intent  upon  worship  and  service 
and  not  a  mere  load  of  encumbering  usage  carried  along  from 
age  to  age  unable  to  vindicate  itself  by  any  showing  made  in 
terms  of  spiritual  value.  He  would  have  the  religious  life  of 
the  day  rest  its  weight  upon  the  manifestation  of  "righteous- 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  133 

ness  and  peace  and  joy"  rather  than  upon  scrupulous  devotion 
to  ceremonies  and  sacraments. 

Have  we  understood  and  observed  all  these  things?  When 
we  make  more  of  the  amount  of  water  used  in  baptizing  a 
man  than  of  the  inward  purity  of  his  motives  or  the  unselfish 
devotion  manifest  in  his  conduct,  then  we  are  again  washing 
the  cups  and  the  pots.  When  we  test  a  minister's  claim  to 
spiritual  efficiency  by  the  particular  method  of  his  ordination 
rather  than  by  scrutiny  of  his  qualities  of  mind  and  heart,  we 
are  exalting  the  traditions  of  the  elders  above  the  spiritual 
verities  involved.  God  is  not  worshiped  chiefly  by  men's  hands 
as  though  he  needed  any  such  thing — he  is  honored  by  men's 
hearts  where  they  are  possessed  of  loving  obedience  toward 
him  and  of  kindly  good  will  toward  all  mankind. 


XXIII 

THE  MASTER'S  ESTIMATE  OF  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST 

Matt.  II :  i-ip 

John  was  in  prison.  He  was  despised  and  rejected  of  men. 
When  he  was  arraigned  by  Herod,  they  esteemed  him  stricken 
and  smitten  of  God.  But  he  was  wounded  for  the  transgres- 
sion of  others ;  he  was  bruised  for  his  vaHant  devotion  to  right- 
eousness. He  was  in  the  profoundest  sense  of  the  word  "a 
forerunner." 

He  was  depressed  by  his  surroundings.  He  had  suffered 
the  sting  of  unjust  treatment.  He  may  well  have  felt  that 
God  had  forsaken  him.  His  faith  in  the  speedy  fulfillment  of 
the  great  hopes  he  had  expressed  was  temporarily  dimmed  by 
the  harsh  treatment  accorded  him.  And  it  is  not  improbable 
that  the  gentler  methods  of  the  Messiah  seemed  disappointing 
to  one  who  had  pictured  the  "Coming  One"  as  wielding 
the  "ax"  and  calling  down  "unquenchable  fire"  in  a  sudden 
and  terrible  retribution  visited  upon  wrongdoers.  At  any  rate 
John  was  burdened  by  a  sore  uncertainty  touching  the  messi- 
anic claims  of  Jesus. 

From  his  prison  cell  he  sent  two  of  his  disciples  to  Jesus 
with  this  plaintive  query,  "Art  thou  he  that  should  come  or  do 
we  look  for  another  ?"  "Another,"  altogether  different  in  kind, 
for  the  word  employed  is  "eteron/^  not  ''allon,"  which  would 
mean  another  of  the  same  type.  John  longed  for  "One  that 
should  come,"  for  that  ultimate  and  supreme  manifestation  of 
the  divine  to  which  reason  and  conscience  might  look  up  and 
say,  "Thy  Kingdom  come."    He  was  waiting  for  a  final  word. 

134 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  135 

The  answer  of  Jesus  is  characteristic  of  his  whole  method. 
"By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know,"  was  the  canon  of  judgment  he 
had  taught  his  disciples.  He  is  content  to  have  his  own  mis- 
sion judged  by  its  fruits.  He  makes  no  arbitrary  claim;  he 
offers  no  dogmatic  statement  about  his  character;  he  cites  no 
ancient  Scripture  in  support  of  his  title  to  the  office  of  Messiah. 
"Go  and  shew  John  again  those  things  which  we  do  hear  and 
see."  On  Carmel  it  was  said,  "Let  the  God  who  answereth  by 
fire  be  God."  In  Gahlee  it  is  said,  "Let  the  one  who  can  say, 
'The  blind  receive  their  sight  and  the  lame  walk  and  the  poor 
have  good  tidings  preached  to  them,'  be  accepted  as  the  Com- 
ing One."  In  this  twentieth  century  let  the  faith  which  an- 
swers in  hearts  renewed  and  wills  strengthened,  in  homes 
sweetened  and  in  whole  nations  directed  toward  the  higher 
ends  of  human  existence  stand  fast  and  bear  rule!  The  re- 
ligious claim  in  any  age  must  submit  to  the  test  of  achievement. 

Here  are  credentials  which  can  be  known  and  read  of  all 
men.  It  requires  an  expert  to  pass  upon  the  intricate  philo- 
sophical and  theological  questions  which  are  discussed  by  the 
schoolmen.  But  the  testimony  of  the  man  who  can  say,  "I 
was  bhnd,  now  I  see" ;  the  word  of  the  man  who  can  say,  "My 
deaf  ears  have  been  unstopped";  the  joyous  witness  of  those 
who  by  faith  in  the  Son  of  God  are  trampling  under  foot  the 
temptations  which  once  lorded  it  over  their  lives:  the  fine  in- 
tegrity of  those  who  stand  up  without  flinching  in  the  per- 
formance of  duties  which  they  formerly  shirked — this  sort  of 
testimony  can  be  weighed  and  valued  by  the  veriest  wayfarer. 
When  men  are  uncertain  as  to  whether  they  should  accept  the 
One  who  has  come,  show  them  the  facts. 

It  is  significant  that  this  recital  of  results  achieved  climaxed 
not  in  some  wonder  yet  more  startling  than  the  opening  of 
blind  eyes  or  the  healing  of  the  leper  but  in  the  fact  that  "the 


136  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

poor  have  the  gospel  preached  to  them."  And  what  is  '*the 
gospel"  as  the  Master  uses  the  words  here?  It  is  the  good 
news  that  God  loves  us  and  has  manifested  his  love  for  us  in 
Jesus  Christ  and  because  he  loves  us,  we  should  love  one  an- 
other. Go  and  tell  the  poor  people  that,  carrying  the  effective 
credential  with  you  in  your  own  attitude  toward  their  need. 
Let  the  hungry  deprived  of  an  equitable  share  of  the  good 
things  they  have  helped  to  produce  know  that  they  are  not 
forgotten.  Wherever  this  original  and  effective  apologetic 
for  the  Christian  faith  is  delivered  we  witness  the  steady 
coming  of  the  Kingdom. 

When  the  messengers  had  departed  Jesus  entered  upon  a 
sympathetic  evaluation  of  John.  The  multitudes  had  thronged 
to  hear  him  when  John  preached  in  the  wilderness.  "What 
went  ye  out  into  the  wilderness  to  see?"  A  reed  shaken  with 
the  wind  ?  A  man  clothed  in  soft  raiment  ?  A  prophet  of  the 
current,  conventional  type?  He  was  none  of  these.  He  was 
"more  than  a  prophet"  as  his  contemporaries  lightly  used  that 
term.  He  combined  the  fierce  hatred  of  wickedness  which 
belonged  to  Elijah,  the  uncompromising  insistence  upon  jus- 
tice of  Micah,  and  the  clear,  strong  sense  of  spiritual  reaHty 
of  an  Isaiah.    He  was  among  the  greatest  born  of  women. 

His  greatness,  however,  was  not  so  much  personal  as  official. 
He  was  the  immediate  forerunner  of  the  Christ,  the  herald 
who  girded  up  his  loins  to  run  before  the  chariot  of  the  King. 
And  with  his  keener  insight  the  Master  gives  his  own  search- 
ing accurate  appraisement  of  the  stern,  strong  man.  "Among 
them  that  are  born  of  women  there  hath  not  arisen  a  greater 
than  John  the  Baptist,  notwithstanding  he  that  is  least  in  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  greater  than  he."  It  was  the  testimony 
of  Christ  to  the  superiority  of  that  order  of  life  he  had  come 
to  establish.    He  cordially  recognized  the  greatness  of  a  per- 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  137 

sonality  living  under  an  imperfect  preparatory  order  and  then 
in  the  same  breath  asserts  the  higher  worth  of  that  which  is 
to  come. 

He  that  is  least  greater  than  he !  Aye,  verily,  in  immediate 
personal  privilege!  The  sophomore  is  greater  than  Socrates 
not  in  personal  ability  or  in  present  moral  attainment  but  in 
his  opportunities,  in  the  richness  of  the  advantages  which  sur- 
round him,  in  the  very  profusion  of  stimulus  and  aid  for  wise 
and  effective  action. 

The  message  of  the  Gospel  is  a  higher  and  a  finer  message 
than  that  uttered  by  John.  When  morally  awakened  men  came 
to  him  saying,  ''What  shall  we  do  then?"  John's  word  was, 
*'He  that  hath  two  coats  let  him  impart  to  him  that  hath  none." 
"Exact  no  more  than  that  which  is  appointed  you."  "Do  vio- 
lence to  no  man." 

This  is  good  as  far  as  it  goes.  But  how  far  short  it  falls 
of  the  word  found  upon  the  lips  of  that  morally  awakened  man 
in  the  far  country  who  said  when  he  came  to  himself,  *T  will 
arise  and  go  to  my  father."  The  life  of  filial  fellowship  which 
stands  at  the  heart  of  the  gospel  message  opens  a  vaster  pros- 
pect to  the  aspiring  soul  than  is  to  be  found  in  any  word  of 
the  great  forerunner. 

The  mode  of  life  enjoined  upon  us  in  the  Gospel  is  a  higher 
mode  than  that  espoused  by  John.  "John  cam.e  neither  eating 
nor  drinking."  He  was  an  ascetic,  dwelling  apart  in  the  desert, 
subsisting  on  locusts  and  wild  honey,  disdaining  the  ordinary 
relationships  and  associations  of  human  intercourse.  His  life 
was  magnificent  as  a  protest  against  current  evils — it  becomes 
sadly  defective  when  we  look  to  it  for  a  constructive  program 
of  action.  . 

"The  Son  of  Man  came  eating  and  drinking."  He  came 
building  his  life  evenly  and  steadily  into  an  actual  and  reason- 


138  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

able  human  order.  He  was  a  concrete  and  not  an  abstract 
idealist.  He  took  the  familiar  material  of  common  Hfe  and 
showed  its  finer  implications.  He  interpreted  those  relations 
in  which  men  and  women  stand  and  must  ever  stand  on  this 
homely  earth,  investing  them  with  new  dignity  and  meaning 
as  he  revealed  their  bearing  upon  the  unfolding  of  a  divine 
purpose.  He  made  men  aware  of  their  souls  right  where  they 
stood  and  of  the  needs  of  those  souls  and  of  the  unseen  sources 
of  supply  for  that  need  near  at  hand  until  those  who  believed 
in  him  found  themselves  at  home  in  a  world  where  God  the 
Father  is  above  all  and  in  all  and  through  all. 

**  The  common  problem,  yours,  mine,  every  one's, 
Is  not  to  fancy  what  were  fair  in  life 
Provided  it  could  be  but  finding  first 
What  may  be,  then  find  how  to  make  that  fair 
Up  to  our  means." 

It  is  the  everlasting  difference  between  the  abstract  and  the 
concrete  idealist  so  effectively  brought  out  by  William  DeWitt 
Hyde  where  he  sets  Plato  and  Aristotle  over  against  each 
other  in  philosophy,  Burne-Jones  and  Watts  in  art,  Wendell 
Phillips  and  Abraham  Lincoln  in  the  work  of  reform,  Mat- 
thew Arnold  and  Robert  Browning  in  poetry  and  President 
Nott  and  Cyrus  Hamlin  in  the  appeal  and  the  conduct  of 
foreign  missionary  effort.  "Plato  sees  what  might  be  and 
condemns  all  that  is  because  it  falls  short  of  this.  Aristotle 
sees  what  is  and  strives  to  bring  the  best  that  may  be  out  of 
that." 

The  stern,  strong  man  whose  words  h^d  a  tang  in  them  like 
horseradish  rendered  his  own  appointed  service  and  entered 
into  his  reward.  The  Master  indicated  John's  spiritual  kin- 
ship with  the  rugged  Tishbite  of  old.  "If  ye  will  receive  it  this 
is  Elijah  who  was  to  come."  Jesus  also  sensed  his  apprecia- 
tion of  the  valued  service  which  such  harsh  instruments  of  the 


THE  ONE  WHO   CAME  139 

divine  purpose  can  render.  "The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  suf- 
fereth  violence  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force."  The  men 
v^^ho  are  veritable  Catling  guns  in  energy  are  not  dispossessed 
of  their  blood  and  iron  when  they  enlist  in  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven.  Their  guns  are  but  trained  more  accurately  upon  the 
enemy.  "Saul  breathing  out  threatenings  and  slaughter  against 
the  disciples  of  the  Lord"  once  apprehended  of  Christ  becomes 
the  apostle  who  in  his  spiritual  passion  "could  wish  himself 
accursed  from  Christ  for  his  brethren,  his  kinsmen  according 
to  the  flesh."  The  violent  consecrate  their  violence  and  by  the 
sheer  force  of  their  aspiration  cause  the  Kingdom  to  advance. 
The  Master  thus  pronounces  the  final  eulogy  upon  John  the 
Baptist  who  was  soon  to  suffer  a  violent  death  at  the  hands  of 
wicked  Herod.  He  reserves  his  full  approval  for  that  higher 
order  of  Hfe  where  men  do  not  strive  nor  cry,  where  they  do 
not  rely  upon  power  or  might,  but  achieve  their  victories  by  the 
supremacy  of  that  Spirit  which  is  divine.  "So  doth  the  greater 
glory  dim  the  less." 


XXIV 

THE  TRAGIC  DEATH  OF  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST 

Mark  6'  14-2Q 

Herod  lived  off  the  turnpike  of  spiritual  effort.  He  would 
not  readily  come  in  touch  with  the  work  done  by  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  When  he  first  heard,  therefore,  of  this  new  prophet 
who  was  showing  himself  "mighty  in  word  and  in  deed,"  he 
was  troubled.  His  first  thought  was — 'Tt  is  John  whom  I 
beheaded — he  is  risen  from  the  dead." 

He  was  utterly  astray  in  his  diagnosis.  His  own  blind  super- 
stition and  his  guilty  conscience  framed  up  for  him  that  specter 
which  haunted  his  hours.  His  own  guilty  memories  produced 
the  sense  of  a  ghostly  presence  emerging  out  of  the  unseen 
world  to  again  rebuke  him  for  his  sin.  "It  is  John,"  he  whis- 
pered in  his  moral  distress.  Thus  at  the  feast  the  troubled 
heart  of  Macbeth  caused  him  to  see  the  ghost  of  Banquo  sit- 
ting in  his  own  chair  which  was  empty  to  all  eyes  but  his  own. 
And  Lady  Macbeth  smelled  blood  on  a  hand  which  was  as 
white  as  her  own  fair  face  paled  with  fear  and  remorse. 

What  a  testimony  to  the  enduring  influence  of  that  moral 
leader  of  whom  Jesus  said,  "Among  them  born  of  women 
there  hath  not  risen  a  greater!"  John  being  dead  yet  spoke 
to  the  consciences  of  men.  The  good  men  do  lives  in  them 
and  after  them.  It  is  a  striking  tribute  to  the  power  of  per- 
sonality that  the  report  of  these  mighty  works  wrought  by  the 
prophet  of  Galilee  should  set  Herod  muttering  and  whispering 
his  fears  as  to  the  reappearance  of  that  stern  champion  of 
righteousness  who  had  rebuked  him  for  the  evil  in  his  life. 

140 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  141 

It  recalled  to  Mark  the  tragic  end  of  the  forerunner's  life 
and  he  here  records  the  grewsome  circumstances  surround- 
ing the  death  of  John.  Herod  had  taken  his  brother's  wife  in 
defiance  of  the  law  of  God  and  man  in  that  land  and  had  made 
her  his  own.  John  the  Baptist  had  withstood  him  to  the  face. 
"It  is  not  lawful,"  he  said,  "for  thee  to  have  her."  He  showed 
his  moral  courage  in  thus  opposing  the  pleasure  of  one  who 
wielded  the  power  of  Hfe  and  of  death.  But  John  was  not 
one  to  flinch.  He  could  arraign  the  ungodly  men  of  his  day, 
in  general  terms  calling  them  "a  generation  of  vipers."  He 
could  also  face  the  individual  and  pointing  to  his  sin,  say  "Thou 
art  the  man,"  which  is  the  harder,  the  higher  and  the  holier 
task. 

When  Nathan  stands  before  David  the  king  denouncing  his 
cruelty  and  adultery;  when  Elijah  meets  Ahab  as  the  oppres- 
sor is  about  to  take  possession  of  the  wrongfully  acquired 
vineyard ;  when  John  Knox  voices  the  conscience  of  Scotland 
in  his  opposition  to  Queen  Mary;  and  when  John  the  Baptist 
faces  Herod  with  the  stern  word,  "It  is  not  lawful,"  we  have 
a  prophetic  succession  ready  at  its  own  peril  to  speak  the 
straight  word  to  the  man  who  needs  it  most.  It  is  easy  to 
reproach  an  entire  congregation  as  being  "miserable  sinners" 
in  whom  there  is  no  spiritual  health — it  is  hard  to  tell  some 
powerful  man  his  fault  "between  thee  and  him  alone." 

Herodias,  the  guilty  partner  in  the  king's  crime,  would  have 
had  the  prophet  silenced  beyond  all  hope  of  further  utterance. 
But  "Herod  feared  John  knowing  that  he  was  a  just  man  and 
holy."  He  had  John  imprisoned  yet  was  unwilling  that  his 
wife's  anger  should  put  the  brave  man  to  death.  It  was  the 
unwilling  and  perhaps  superstitious  tribute  which  moral  cow- 
ardice pays  to  virtue.  Therefore  in  the  gloomy  fortress  of 
Machaerus  John  was  entombed. 


142  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

But  there  came  a  day  when  Herod  celebrated  his  birthday 
with  a  great  supper.  "The  lords,  the  high  captains  and  the 
chief  estates  of  Galilee"  were  gathered  at  his  banquet  board. 
It  was  a  Roman  custom  at  a  certain  point  in  the  feast  "when 
men  had  well  drunk"  to  bring  in  the  dancing  girls  even  as  the 
geisha  girls  form  one  of  the  elements  of  entertainment  at 
showy  dinners  in  Japan.  The  dancing  was  imitative  and 
licentious — it  bore  no  relation  to  the  wholesome  forms  of 
recreation  known  to  our  high-minded  youths  and  maidens. 
It  was  commonly  done  by  paid  professionals  whose  trade  was 
such  that  they  had  no  modesty  to  lose. 

But  at  Herod's  feast  when  the  curtains  were  drawn  and  the 
dancer  appeared  a  thrill  of  surprise  and  of  ugly  gratification 
possessed  the  hearts  of  the  half  drunken  revellers.  It  was 
Salome,  the  beautiful  daughter  of  Herodias!  It  is  probable 
that  she  had  been  urged  to  make  this  unseemly  display  of  her 
charms  by  her  own  wicked  mother  in  the  prosecution  of  an 
unholy  design.  The  jaded  appetites  of  these  banqueters  were 
whetted  by  this  fresh  sensation  and  their  rude  appreciation 
testified  to  Herod  that  he  had  made  a  great  hit  in  the  enter- 
tainment provided. 

Heated  by  wine,  intoxicated  by  their  flattering  applause,  be- 
guiled himself  by  the  wanton  dancing  of  a  handsome  girl,  he 
burst  out  in  maudlin  fashion,  "Ask  of  me  whatever  thou  wilt 
and  I  will  give  it  thee."  The  girl  herself  was  confused  and 
staggered  by  his  wild  offer  and  he  repeated  it  with  an  oath — 
"Whatsoever  thou  shalt  ask  .  .  .  unto  the  half  of  my  king- 
dom !" 

Thus  aroused  to  a  sense  of  the  greatness  of  his  offer  she 
went  out  to  be  coached  by  her  mother.  *'What  shall  I  ask?'* 
There  was  something  more  precious  to  Herodias  than  the  half 
of  any  kingdom  and  that  was  the  full  gratification  of  her  desire 


THE  ONE  WHO  CAME  143 

for  revenge.  "Hell  hath  no  fury  like  a  woman  spurned." 
The  stern  prophet  in  yonder  gloomy  prison  had  uttered  words 
in  condemnation  of  her  sin  which  scorched  her  soul.  Her 
answer  to  the  girl's  question  was  swift  and  cruel.  "What  shall 
I  ask?"  "The  head  of  John."  And  that  there  should  be  no 
mistake  about  his  having  been  beheaded  she  demanded  that 
the  head  be  brought  to  her  "on  a  platter,"  served  up  to  her 
coarse  appetite  for  fierce  revenge. 

When  the  dancing  girl  came  with  that  horrible  request  the 
king  was  exceeding  sorry.  He  had  made  a  wild  and  dangerous 
vow.  When  wine  is  in,  wit  is  out.  When  men  are  inflamed 
by  immodest  displays,  purposes  are  formed  which  issue  in 
actions  more  base  and  cruel  than  extravagant  indulgence  in 
meat  and  drink.  He  was  exceeding  sorry  yet  for  his  oath's 
sake  anci  for  their  sakes  who  sat  with  him  he  would  not  refuse. 
Stiff  in  the  pride  of  his  own  foolish  word  and  craven  in  his 
fear  of  those  evil  associates,  he  lacked  the  moral  courage  to 
make  a  wise  retreat. 

How  many  young  men  take  courses  of  action  which  their 
own  judgment  and  conscience  disallow  because  of  a  fancied 
sense  of  loyalty  to  some  mad  vow  !  The  bravado  of  persistence 
in  a  wrong  course  is  not  courage  nor  firmness,  but  cowardice 
and  pigheaded  obstinacy.  Happy  the  open-minded  man  who  is 
ready  to  be  wiser  and  better  today  than  he  was  yesterday  or 
even  an  hour  ago.  He  gains  much  by  having  the  courage  to 
make  a  wise  retreat. 

Herod  would  not  go  back.  He  sent  an  executioner  to  the 
prison  and  had  John  beheaded.  He  had  the  head  brought  on 
a  platter.  He  gave  it  to  the  damsel  and  the  damsel  gave  it  to 
her  mother.  Now  let  the  grudge  of  this  guilty  woman  feed 
itself  fat  upon  that  horrid  sight!  She  had  been  unwilling  to 
have  the  promise  of  Herod  that  he  would  execute  John,  for 


144  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

on  the  morrow  when  he  was  sober  and  when  his  lords  and  high 
captains  were  no  longer  about  him  with  their  flattering  ap- 
plause, he  might  still  recede  from  his  oath. 

It  is  a  tragic  story !  But  given  a  mean  and  cowardly  official 
dressed  in  a  little  brief  authority !  Given  a  woman  savage  and 
vindictive!  Given  a  prophet  who  stood  as  the  fearless  cham- 
pion of  righteousness  facing  the  wicked  pair  with  the  law  of 
God  deep  written  in  his  heart,  and  you  have  all  the  ingredients 
for  a  tragedy!  And  the  working  of  the  moral  forces,  good 
and  evil,  there  suggested  wrought  from  those  materials  this 
horrible  event  which  has  been  spread  upon  canvas  and  retold 
in  verse  with  somber  effect. 

The  world  cannot  spare  its  supply  of  men  of  the  type  here 
indicated.  The  prophet  must  stand  ever  and  anon  in  some 
august  presence  it  may  be  and  say  in  accents  unmistakable, 
**It  is  not  lawful."  When  the  resources  of  a  country  created 
for  the  comfort  of  many  are  being  rapidly,  recklessly,  waste- 
fully  exploited  by  the  few  for  the  few;  when  the  mad  race 
for  material  gain  shows  itself  without  regard  for  the  human 
values  at  stake;  when  under  pressure  of  the  desire  for  large 
and  quick  returns  the  pace  of  industry  is  made  too  sharp  for 
the  endurance  of  the  average  man ;  when  vast  combinations  of 
capital  control  legislation  and  the  decisions  of  courts  in  their 
own  selfish  interest,  then  it  becomes  necessary  for  many  a 
prophet  of  the  living  God  at  the  risk  of  his  pew  rents,  if  not  of 
his  head,  to  say  boldly,  "It  is  not  lawful." 

In  Herod's  case  it  was  "the  lust  of  the  flesh  and  the  pride 
of  life"  in  the  presence  of  his  riotous  companions  which  im- 
pelled him  to  his  evil  course.  The  outer  wrappings  of  evil 
may  change  like  the  passing  styles,  but  the  essential  spirit  of 
evil  abides.  The  lust  of  the  flesh  and  the  pride  of  life  are  still 
making  war  upon  the  finer  modes  of  life.    They  still  strike  off 


THE   ONE  WHO   CAME  145 

the  head  of  many  an  impulse  toward  a  nobler  course  of  action. 
And  in  the  presence  of  the  wanton  cruelty  of  lust  and  greed 
and  ugly  pride,  it  must  be  "not  peace  but  a  sword." 

Herodias  thought  she  had  silenced  John.  But  that  bloody 
head  upon  the  platter  has  spoken  to  more  men  and  has  spoken 
more  potently  than  did  his  voice  in  life. 

Herod  had  his  unlawful  wife.  Herodias  had  the  head  of 
the  one  whose  rebuke  had  made  her  wince.  The  disciples  had 
the  mutilated  corpse  which  they  took  for  decent  burial.  Yet 
the  world  is  richer  and  better  for  the  brave,  heroic  life  of  that 
fearless  advocate  of  righteousness,  snuffed  out  though  it  was 
in  tragic  fashion.  He  was  indeed  "a  radical"  in  that  he  laid 
his  ax  at  the  root  of  the  trouble  and  his  rightful  successor  is 
needed  now  on  every  field  of  moral  effort. 


BOOK   II 
HIS  METHOD 


XXV 

THE  RULER'S  DAUGHTER 

Mark  5  :  21-43 

We  call  him  "  The  Great  Physician  "  because  he  came 
to  make  men  whole  in  the  whole  sense  of  that  term.  He 
ate  with  publicans  and  sinners  because  they  needed  him 
most.  He  busied  himself  with  the  sick  because  their 
claim  on  his  compassion  took  precedence. 

As  it  was  then,  is  now  and  shall  be  for  years  to  come, 
the  people  came  more  readily  to  be  healed  of  their  diseases 
than  to  be  forgiven  of  their  iniquities.  We  are  not  to  be 
surprised  nor  disturbed  when  the  same  people  today  throng 
the  Christian  Science  Temple  because  relief  is  there  prom- 
ised for  their  headaches  and  their  indigestion  while  they 
show  themselves  reluctant  in  seeking  those  profounder 
spiritual  influences  which  are  designed  to  cure  them  of 
their  selfishness. 

"  Behold,  there  cometh  one  of  the  rulers  of  the  syna- 
gogue." It  was  the  first  time  that  a  ''  ruler  of  the  syna- 
gogue "  had  shown  an  open  interest  in  the  Master's  work 
and  all  three  of  the  synoptic  Gospels  remarked  upon  it. 
His  social  position  and  the  fact  that  his  class  had  been 
standing  rigidly  against  the  work  of  this  teacher  of  Naza- 
reth made  the  incident  notable.  "  Have  any  of  the  rulers 
believed  on  him  "  —  this  was  the  challenge  which  the  eccle- 
siastics at  Jerusalem  were  able  to  make  long  after  this 
occurrence. 

But  the  desperate  need  of  Jairus  broke  down  the 
barriers   of   prejudice.     The   necessity  which   could   not  be 

149 


150  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

met  from  any  other  known  source  sent  him  to  the  feet  of 
the  Saviour.  Luke  portrays  the  desperate  situation  in  a 
terse,  graphic  sentence  —  *' He  had  one  only  daughter, 
about  twelve  years  of  age,  and  she  lay  a-dying."  It  was 
no  time  to  stand  on  theological  ceremony  or  to  insist  upon 
the  exclusive  items  of  ritual.  The  proud  ruler  of  the  syna- 
gogue fell  down  at  the  feet  of  the  Galilean  "  and  besought 
him  greatly.  Lay  thy  hands  on  her  .  .  .  and  she  shall 
live."  And  Jesus  at  once  went  with  him  toward  the  home 
of  pain. 

But  on  the  way  he  was  arrested  by  another  appeal. 
There  was  a  woman  who  had  been  in  a  pitiable  condition 
for  twelve  years.  She  had  spent  her  all  on  doctor's  bills 
and  was  nothing  bettered  but  rather  grew  worse.  Her  own 
womanly  modesty,  the  nature  of  her  trouble  and  the  fact 
of  her  being  ceremonially  unclean  according  to  the  Leviti- 
cal  law  combined  to  make  her  unwilling  to  face  the  Master 
openly  with  an  appeal  for  help.  She  hoped  to  creep  up 
behind  him  unnoticed  and  gain  what  she  sought — "  If  I 
may  but  touch  his  clothes,  I  shall  be  whole." 

It  was  a  blind,  ignorant,  superstitious  sort  of  faith. 
It  belongs  in  the  same  list  with  the  desire  to  touch  the 
alleged  fragments  of  the  true  cross  or  the  Holy  Coat  at 
Treves  or  to  stand  in  the  grotto  at  Lourdes  made  famous 
by  the  legend  of  the  appearance  of  the  Virgin.  The 
woman's  faith  was  not  orthodox;  it  was  not  rational;  it 
was  not  regular  and  conventional,  but  it  was  real.  And 
because  it  was  real  the  Master  honored  it,  overlaid  though 
it  was  with  blind  superstition.  He  stood  ready  to  welcome 
and  to  reward  her  imperfect  faith  and  to  lead  it  forth  by 
the  right  way  into  something  better.  The  timid,  ignorant 
touch  of  faith  should  not  fall  to  the  ground  unnoticed. 

When  she  touched  the  edge  of  his  robe  Jesus  felt  im- 
mediately   that    benefit    had    gone    forth    from    him.     His 


HIS   METHOD  151 

personal  help  could  not  go  forth  without  conscious  effort 
on  his  part  nor  without  personal  cost.  "  Who  touched 
me?"  he  said.  The  touch  of  faith  claiming  help  for  its 
need  had  differentiated  itself  from  the  careless  push  and 
jostle  of  the  street,  even  as  the  look  of  faith  and  the  sin- 
cere appeal  of  thoughtful  devotion  differentiate  themselves 
from  the  more  general  and  formal  worship  of  the  crowd. 

Then  the  woman,  with  fearful  joy  knowing  what  had 
been  wrought  in  her,  fell  down  before  him  and  told  him  the 
truth.  He  was  content  with  a  simple  faith,  but  it  must 
find  open  expression.  Her  confession  may  have  added 
nothing  to  her  bodily  health  which  was  already  secured, 
but  it  did  add  to  her  spiritual  joy  and  to  his  that  she 
acknowledged  the  blessing  which  was  hers.  And  the  Mas- 
ter said,  "  Thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole."  It  was  not 
the  touch  of  her  hand  upon  the  hem  of  his  robe;  it  was 
the  faith  in  her  soul  which  secured  the  result.  And  then 
as  she  acknowledged  the  benefit  received,  the  Master  be- 
stowed upon  her  what  might  be  termed  "  a  second  blessing." 
"  Go  in  peace  and  be  whole  of  thy  plague." 

What  a  useful  picture  of  human  need  asserting  its 
rightful  claim  upon  the  divine  compassion!  "  We  have  not 
an  high  priest  which  cannot  be  touched  with  the  feeling 
of  our  infirmities.  He  was  in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we 
are.  Let  us  therefore  come  boldly  to  the  throne  of  grace 
that  we  may  obtain  mercy  and  find  grace  to  help  in  time  of 
need." 

What  a  picture  as  well  of  that  life  whose  helpfulness 
was  so  manifest  as  to  prompt  the  touch  and  the  appeal  of 
faith!  In  the  light  of  this  occurrence  it  is  for  every  man  to 
ask  himself,  "  How  is  human  need  affected  by  my  presence? 
When  any  one  meets  me  incidentally  what  is  the  result? 
What  does  he  rub  off  of  me  in  his  casual  contact?  How 
far  is  he  prompted  to  touch  the  hem  of  my  mind  or  my 


152  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

heart  in  the  hope  of  receiving  help?  "  It  is  a  tragedy  for 
any  life  to  move  among  the  throngs  and  in  the  presence  of 
need  and  not  elicit  ever  and  anon  the  touch  of  faith. 

The  anxious  father  was  sorely  tried  by  this  delay  but 
Jesus  reassured  him  —  "Fear  not,  only  believe."  It  is  a 
note  which  sounds  clear  and  strong  throughout  the  Mas- 
ter's entire  teaching.  "Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled  — 
believe  in  God."  "Have  faith  in  God  —  all  things  are 
possible  to  him  that  believe th." 

When  he  reached  the  house  he  allowed  no  one  to  enter 
the  sick  room  save  the  parents  of  the  child  and  "  Peter  and 
James  and  John."  He  drew  around  him  always  in  a  closer 
fellowship  these  three  as  an  inner  circle  of  trusted  inti- 
mates. On  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration,  in  Gethsemane 
and  in  all  the  greater  crises  of  his  life  it  was  the  same. 
There  in  that  sympathetic  atmosphere  freighted  with  trust 
he  would  work  relief. 

In  all  three  of  the  synoptic  gospels  where  this  incident 
is  recorded  we  have  the  affirmation  of  Jesus,  "  The  damsel 
is  not  dead  but  sleepeth."  This  would  indicate  that  this 
was  not  a  case  of  raising  the  dead,  but  of  the  reanim.ation  of 
one  in  a  state  of  coma.  If  we  insist  upon  the  full  strength 
of  the  words  of  Christ  when  they  directly  affirm  his  super- 
human power,  we  are  to  be  no  less  faithful  to  such  a  state- 
ment as  the  one  recorded  in  all  three  of  the  narratives. 
"  She  is  not  dead  but  sleepeth."  It  is  a  question  here  of 
careful,  honest  exegesis  rather  than  any  dogmatic  question 
as  to  the  possibility  of  miracles.  We  shall  not  exalt  the 
person  of  Christ  by  claiming  more  than  may  be  rightly 
claimed  by  painstaking  fidelity  to  the  record.  The  One 
who  said  "Ye  shall  know  the  truth;  and  the  truth  shall 
make  you  free,"  can  only  be  served  by  fearless  and  thor- 
ough-going loyalty  to  the  truth. 

He   took    the   damsel   by   the   hand    and   said    to    her, 


HIS   METHOD  153 

"  Talitha,  Cumi  —  Damsel,  Arise."  The  girl  arose  and 
walked,  and  he  directed  that  something  be  given  her  to 
eat.  The  people  were  astonished  with  a  great  astonishment. 
The  Master  of  life  and  of  death,  the  One  competent  to 
heal  diseases  and  to  forgive  iniquities,  had  asserted  again 
his  sovereign  good  will  in  that  home  of  pain  and  distress. 

In  both  of  these  narratives  the  truth  is  brought  out 
that  even  the  honest  mistakes  men  make  in  diagnosing 
that  which  they  fear  or  in  selecting  methods  of  relief  when 
they  undertake  to  bring  their  need  into  contact  with  divine 
help  do  not  fail  of  their  reward.  The  best  we  know  of  our 
own  lack  falls  far  short  of  the  reality;  and  the  wisest 
methods  we  select  when  we  would  gain  some  valued  result 
may  seem  childish  before  him  with  whom  we  have  to  do. 
But  where  the  touch  and  appeal  are  those  of  genuine 
trust,  the  sincerity  of  the  attitude  rather  than  the  wisdom 
manifest  in  the  choice  of  means  is  regarded. 

The  hour  of  need  in  our  human  experience  becomes  a 
revealing  time.  We  should  never  have  dreamed  of  the  la- 
tent courage  and  patriotism,  of  the  unuttered  eloquence 
and  generosity  among  the  quiet  farms  and  in  the  shops 
and  stores  of  the  North  but  for  the  emergency  of  the  Civil 
War.  The  son  might  never  have  known  the  intensity  of 
his  mother's  love  and  devotion  but  for  the  long  illness 
through  which  she  nursed  him  back  to  life.  The  great 
need  clears  the  field  and  offers  a  wide  open  space  that  some 
great  deed  may  come  forth  and  fill  it. 

The  immediate  efficacy  of  Christ's  work  in  these  pas- 
sages is  one  of  its  glories.  He  said  to  the  patient  suf- 
ferer, "  Daughter,  thy  faith  hath  m.ade  thee  whole,"  and  the 
woman  walked  away  with  the  elastic  grace  of  healthy 
v/omanhood.  He  said  to  the  girl  unconscious  in  a  sleep 
from  which  she  might  not  have  awaked  without  his  help, 
"  Maiden,  arise,"  and  straightway  the  damsel  arose. 


154  THE   MASTER'S   WAY 

You  need  not  postpone  the  time  when  you  will  receive 
great  blessings  from  the  Lord,  no,  not  for  an  hour.  The 
rewards  of  Christian  service  are  indeed  cumulative  —  they 
unfold  and  enlarge  from  year  to  year.  But  there  need  be 
no  delay  in  initiating  this  process  of  divine  help.  "  Today 
if  ye  will."  The  Son  of  Man  is  on  earth  and  he  can  for- 
give sins  at  once.  He  is  not  far  from  any  one  of  us  and 
when  "  the  Spirit  comes  upon  a  man,"  with  his  assent  and 
acceptance,  he  is,  according  to  the  promise,  "  turned  into 
another  man." 

We  live  and  move  in  him.  His  power,  his  wisdom  and 
his  love  press  us  on  every  side.  But  his  helpfulness  now 
as  of  old  responds  only  to  the  touch  and  appeal  of  loving 
trust.  His  help  does  not  force  its  way  unasked  nor  fling 
itself  upon  the  multitude  without  discrimination.  When 
the  personal  appeal  is  made  aright  then  he  restores  us  from 
our  ills,  then  he  causes  the  life  become  inert  and  unrespon- 
sive to  rise  into  life  abounding  and  unending:. 


XXVI 
THE  FEEDING  OF  THE  FIVE  THOUSAND 

Mark  6  :  30-44 

This  passage  if  read  in  midsummer  becomes  indeed 
"  the  lesson  for  the  day."  In  its  opening  word  it  puts  the 
seal  of  approval  upon  what  so  many  people  are  doing  at  that 
season.  Jesus  said  to  his  disciples,  "  Come  ye  apart  and 
rest  awhile."  And  they  at  once  departed  with  him  into 
the  wilds. 

When  some  self-appointed  mentor  censures  the  tired 
pastor  or  the  weary  Sunday  school  teacher  with  the  solemn 
observation,  "  The  devil  never  takes  a  vacation,"  it  is 
enough  to  say  in  reply,  '*  We  are  not  followers  of  the  devil 
—  we  are  followers  of  Him  who  said,  '  Come  ye  apart  and 
rest  awhile.'  "  The  spirit  has  its  tides  no  less  than  the 
ocean.  Where  the  movement  of  energy  is  always  outward 
there  comes  depletion.  There  needs  to  be  a  time  when 
the  life  waits  for  the  influx  of  new  power  as  the  bay  waits 
for  its  infilling  by  the  ocean  at  the  turn  of  the  tide. 

The  timeliness  of  the  lesson  is  further  increased  by  the 
fact  that  it  is  the  story  of  an  outdoor  meal.  The  people 
were  sitting  on  the  green  grass.  They  were  far  removed 
from  the  ordinary  sources  of  food  supply.  They  were 
hungry,  so  that  the  compassionate  heart  of  Christ  was  un- 
willing to  "  send  them  away  "  lest  some  should  faint  by  the 
way.  And  now  the  same  heart  of  sympathy,  which  in  its 
concern  for  the  weary  disciples  had  suggested  a  vacation, 
showed  itself  no  less  alive  to  the  common  hunger  of  an 
insistent  multitude  of  plain  folk. 

155 


156  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

When  Jesus  saw  the  hungry  people  "  he  was  moved 
with  compassion."  When  the  disciples  saw  them,  they  said 
"  Send  them  away."  They  would  have  the  hungry  go 
elsewhere  to  buy  themselves  food.  But  Jesus  said,  "  They 
need  not  go  away  —  give  ye  them  to  eat."  The  disciples 
replied,  "  Shall  we  go  and  buy  two  hundred  pennj^worth 
of  bread?"  The  absurdity  of  it  was  manifest  —  they 
had  not  that  much  money  in  their  possession,  and  there 
was  no  such  supply  of  provision  on  sale  anywhere  within 
reach. 

Then  Jesus  said,  "  How  many  loaves  have  you?  " 
They  did  not  know.  They  went  out  to  investigate. 
Presently  they  came  back  and  reported  "  Five  —  but  what 
are  they?  "  Still  they  did  not  know.  They  were  doing 
their  little  sums  in  arithmetic,  leaving  out  of  the  account 
the  most  significant  fact  in  the  situation.  They  were 
adding  up  their  little  columns  of  figures,  like  children  at 
grammar  school,  as  if  there  had  been  no  "  prophet  mighty 
in  word  and  in  deed  "  close  at  hand. 

The  disproportion  between  their  own  meager  resources 
and  the  amount  of  need  in  that  hungry  multitude  stag- 
gered them.  It  staggered  them  because  they  did  not  dream 
of  the  latent  possibilities  in  that  situation.  They  did  not 
know  how  wonderful  the  most  meager  resources  may  be- 
come when  they  are  once  brought  under  the  power  of  an 
unhesitating  consecration  to  Christ. 

Then  in  the  confidence  of  power  Jesus  bade  the  people 
sit  down  as  for  a  meal.  "  And  they  sat  down  in  ranks  " — 
the  Greek  word  is  more  picturesque,  "  in  garden  beds  and 
garden  beds"  (for  the  word  is  repeated),  "by  hundreds 
and  by  fifties,"  for  convenience  in  serving.  And  when 
Jesus  had  taken  the  meager  resources  of  the  company  into 
his  own  hands  and  blessed  them,  he  gave  to  his  disciples 
and  they  distributed  to  the  people  who  were  set  down  as 


HIS   METHOD  157 

much  as  they  would.  And  to  the  amazement  of  every- 
body, the  slender  resources  sufficed  to  meet  the  need  of  the 
entire  company. 

This  is  the  story.  It  is  soon  told,  but  that  which  is 
here  symbolized  in  the  divine  utilization  of  inadequate 
resource  to  meet  appalling  need  is  a  process  the  story  of 
which  can  never  be  exhausted. 

Strike  out  the  word  "  loaves,"  which  are  simply  the 
X,  y  and  z  of  the  problem,  the  outward  symbols  of  values 
innumerable!  How  many  loaves  of  knowledge  have  you 
as  you  face  the  world  of  spiritual  reality  and  undertake  to 
instruct  your  fellows?  How  much  faith  have  you  as  you 
face  somxC  bewildering  situation  or  seek  to  point  the  way  for 
some  other  baffled  soul?  How  much  strength  have  you  as 
you  undertake  to  give  those  struggling  lives  a  friendly 
lift?  How  much  money  have  you  as  you  look  out  upon  the 
unrelieved  want  of  the  world?  How  much  goodness  have 
you  as  you  enlist  with  Him  who  is  seeking  to  take  away 
the  sin  of  the  v/orld? 

How  much  have  you  of  all  this?  Go  and  see.  And 
you  may  come  back  presently  to  say,  in  your  humiliation: 
"How  much?  Not  much  —  just  this.  And  what  is  this 
among  so  many?  " 

You  may  be  disturbed  by  vague  longings  of  your  own. 
You  want  a  m^ore  complete  physical  effectiveness,  not  for 
self-indulgence,  but  for  unselfish  service.  You  want  a  more 
complete  mental  unfolding,  for  you  feel  stirring  within 
you  an  unrealized  capacity  for  high  and  serious  thought. 
You  long  for  a  more  satisfying  fellowship  with  those  who 
would  know  you  as  you  are,  for  that  perfect  sympathy  and 
congeniality  of  spirit  which  belong  to  companionship  on 
its  high  levels.  You  long  for  a  soul  purer,  truer,  kinder 
than  this  troubled  soul  of  yours  which  comes  up  weary 
and   discouraged   from  the   fret  and  care   of  a  hard  week. 


158  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

You  long  for  all  this,  but  when  you  look  at  your  own 
meager  resource  you  are  dismayed.  You  will  be  helped 
beyond  a  peradventure  by  a  closer  study  of  the  feeding  of 
the  multitude. 

The  Master  knew  what  those  five  loaves  were  among 
so  many,  and  he  was  the  only  one  who  did  know.  The 
boy  who  brought  the  little  stock  of  provision  —  five  bis- 
cuits and  two  sardines,  we  would  put  it  in  our  modern 
Western  phrase  —  was  amazed  at  the  result.  The  disciples 
were  amazed,  for  they  were  just  learning  to  spell  words  of 
one  syllable  in  that  august  message  of  divine  help  which 
had  come  into  the  world.  But  the  Master  "  knew  what  he 
would  do,"  for  he  alone  knew  what  he  could  do. 

How  amazed  many  a  man  is  when  he  sees  his  own 
modest  store  of  ability  used  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
divine  purpose!  He  knows  how  meager  it  is,  yet  reports 
come  back  of  genuine  service  rendered  which  astonish  him. 
He  has  been  speaking  a  kind  word  here,  doing  a  generous 
deed  there,  maintaining  a  certain  character  for  rectitude, 
holding  an  attitude  of  sympathy  truly  Christian,  and  no 
end  of  good  has  been  accomplished  by  the  use  of  these 
simple  agencies. 

"What  am  I?"  the  man  said  at  the  beginning  of  his 
Christian  life.  He  did  not  know  —  no  man  ever  knows. 
The  Master  knows  because  he  sees  the  unrealized  capacity 
in  every  soul.  The  perpetual  enlargement  and  enrichment 
of  personality,  with  powers  of  service  correspondingly  in- 
creased, which  goes  on  when  men  live  in  fellowship  with 
Christ,  is  to  me  more  wonderful  than  this  story  about  the 
loaves  and  the  fishes. 

Every  great  thing,  it  matters  not  whether  it  is  an 
individual  or  an  institution  or  a  movement  in  which  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  may  ultimately  be  blessed,  has  its 
hour  of  unsuspected  capacity.     It  may  lie  in  the  manger  of 


HIS   METHOD  159 

a  stable  in  some  little  Bethlehem,  its  future  glory  all  un- 
declared. It  may  see  a  period  when  it  is  in  danger  of  being 
slain  by  some  cruel  Herod  whom  later  it  could  wither  with 
a  word.  In  such  an  hour  the  prosaic  nature  lacking  in 
vision  may  look  in  and  say,  *'  What  is  this  tiny  beginning 
in  the  face  of  obstacles  so  great?  "  He  knows  not  the 
unrealized  possibilities  of  that  life  which  may  yet  wear  a 
name  which  is  above  every  name.  ''  What  is  this?  "  you 
ask,  touching  some  modest  beginning.  Ask  Him!  He  alone 
is  competent  to  make  reply. 

The  whole  story  of  the  loaves  and  fishes  is  most  reas- 
suring when  we  are  depressed  because  of  the  disproportion 
between  the  visible  efforts  we  can  put  forth  and  the  magni- 
tude of  our  task.  Here  is  the  everlasting  struggle  between 
the  forces  of  light  and  the  forces  of  darkness.  Here  is 
one  solitary  missionary  set  down  in  China,  India,  Africa, 
facing  the  ignorance,  the  prejudice,  the  sinfulness  of  a 
hundred  thousand  people  who  walk  in  darkness.  The 
present  proportion  is  just  about  that,  one  to  one  hundred 
thousand  —  what  is  he  among  so  many? 

Here  is  one  little  home  missionary  church  set  down  in 
a  mining  town  or  a  lumber  camp  in  the  mountains  of 
Montana  or  Idaho.  There  are  ten  grog  shops  and  half  a 
dozen  other  places  still  worse  fighting  steadily  on  the  other 
side.     What  is  the  little  church  against  such  odds! 

Here  is  the  unorganized  moral  sentiment  of  a  com- 
munity undertaking  to  fight  some  strongly  intrenched  evil! 
The  evil  has  political  pull  and  money  galore  and  scores  of 
ugly-hearted  henchmen  who  profit  by  it  —  what  can  moral 
sentiment  do  against  all  that?  How  unequal  the  contest 
seems  on  the  face  of  it! 

And  yet,  inadequate  as  the  forces  of  light  may  seem, 
the  hard  fact  stands  that  on  all  the  mission  fields  of  earth 
and  all  along  the  frontier  in  our  own  land  and  in  those 


160  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

sections  of  our  cities  where  the  representatives  of  righteous- 
ness stand  in  the  very  thick  of  the  fight,  men  and  women 
like  ourselves  are  coming  off  more  than  conquerors  through 
Him  who  uses  weak  things  to  confound  the  mighty. 

"  It  is  a  great  miracle,"  as  Charles  E.  Jefferson  says, 
"  and  it  presents  a  great  mystery.  The  mystery  is  so 
great  that  some  men  have  attempted  to  explain  away  the 
miracle.  But  their  explanations  are  more  marvelous  than 
the  miracle  itself.  If  this  story  of  the  feeding  of  the  multi- 
tude be  history,  it  is  indeed  strange,  but  if  it  be  fiction  it 
is  stranger  still.  That  a  Jewish  publican  or  fisherman 
should  spin  in  his  own  inner  consciousness  a  story  so 
graphic  and  straightforward  and  then  spin  an  alleged  dis- 
course so  profound  that  nineteen  centuries  of  thinking  have 
not  yet  carried  us  to  the  bottom  of  it,  and  so  nicely  at- 
tuned to  the  miracle  that  word  and  deed  seem  but  comple- 
menting parts  of  one  strain  of  music,  and  then  create  a 
character  on  whose  lips  the  discourse  does  not  sound  blas- 
phemous and  to  whose  hands  the  miracle  does  not  seem 
disproportioned,  is  of  course  possible  but  hardly  probable. 
It  is  more  reasonable  to  ascribe  great  deeds  to  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  than  such  great  stories  to  the  men  who  followed 
him." 


XXVII 

THE  STORM-TOSSED  MEN 

Mark  6 :  45-56 

The  Master  had  fed  the  multitude  and  had  sent  them 
away  not  hungry  and  fainting  but  filled.  Now  he  must  be 
fed  for  he  felt  that  power  had  gone  out  from  him.  There- 
fore "  when  he  had  sent  them  away,  he  departed  into  a 
mountain  to  pray."  He  was  alone  with  the  Father  that 
his  own  depleted  strength  might  be  replenished. 

"  The  wind  was  contrary  "  that  night,  and  the  disciples 
in  the  little  boat  made  no  headway.  They  toiled  in  rowing 
all  night  until  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  —  "  it  was  the 
fourth  watch  in  the  night,"  —  unable  to  bring  their  boat 
to  the  opposite  shore.  The  wind  was  contrary  so  they 
could  not  sail  —  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  pull  at  the 
oars,  and  their  efforts  seemed  futile. 

"  The  wind  was  contrary  "  —  the  fundamental  fact  was 
against  them.  There  is  no  tide  on  the  little  lake,  and  it 
was  before  the  days  of  steam.  The  wind,  therefore,  was 
the  main  force  to  be  reckoned  with  and  it  was  adverse. 
It  could  not  be  changed  nor  reasoned  with  —  they  could 
only  resist  its  blind,  meaningless  opposition  with  their 
puny  strength. 

What  a  picture  of  the  situation  in  which  lives  in- 
numerable find  themselves!  There  is  some  opposing  force 
which  cannot  be  changed  nor  ordered  off;  it  cannot  be 
climbed  over  nor  crawled  under;  it  will  not  explain  its 
meaning  nor  grant  a  respite  for  the  accomplishment  of  some 
worthy  purpose.     The  opposition  is  there  confronting  and 

161 


162  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

baffling  the  life.  For  many  a  soul  the  night  is  dark,  the 
sea  is  rough,  and  the  wind  is  contrary. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  name  all  of  the  contrary 
winds  which  men  encounter.  The  stiff  breeze  of  opposition 
to  peace  and  progress  may  blow  through  the  rooms  of  a 
man's  own  home.  The  union  which  exists  there  was  made 
with  the  best  intentions,  but  it  was  ill-advised,  and  the 
wind  is  contrary  for  them  both.  The  opposing  wind  may 
blow  from  the  stubborn  fact  of  chronic  ill  health.  When 
the  heartbeat  is  neither  strong  nor  true,  when  the  nerves 
shriek  and  bluster  in  an  unnatural  excitement,  when  whole- 
some food  becomes  disquieting  instead  of  renewing,  because 
of  a  disordered  digestion,  it  seems  well-nigh  impossible  for 
mind  and  heart  to  move  serenely  toward  the  haven  where 
they  would  be. 

The  life  may  encounter  a  fundamental  opposition  in 
the  dreariness  and  monotony  of  its  toil.  The  loss  of  joy 
and  pride  in  one's  work  which  seems  inevitable  where  a 
man  is  doomed  to  spend  his  days  punching  holes  in  a  shoe, 
or  feeding  endless  material  into  some  huge  machine,  or 
weighing  numberless  cargoes  which  to  him  are  mere  weight 
and  bulk,  becomes  a  serious  handicap  to  the  man's  advance. 
In  every  such  case  it  seems  as  if  the  great  main  fact  had 
arrayed  itself  in  opposition.  The  men  toil  in  rowing  and  toil 
to  no  purpose. 

But  there  was  a  silent  and  sympathetic  witness  of  the 
struggle  the  men  made.  "  He  saw  them  toiling  in  rowing." 
He  was  watching  from  the  heights  where  he  had  gone  to 
pray,  to  see  how  they  fared.  He  is  ever  watching.  He  that 
keepeth  Israel  shall  neither  slumber  nor  sleep  while  his 
friends  are  storm- tossed. 

How  much  it  means  that  there  is  some  one  who  knows 
and  cares!  How  much  it  means  to  a  growing  boy  fighting 
his   temptations   and   battling  with   his   reluctance   to   face 


HIS   METHOD  163 

some  hard  duty  if  he  overhears  his  father  say,  "  The  boy 
is  putting  up  a  good  fight  —  I  am  proud  of  him."  How- 
much  it  means  that  the  divine  Christ  sees  us  toiHng  in 
rowing  and  at  the  very  hour  when  we  tremble  on  the  verge 
of  defeat  stands  ready  to  come  with  his  almighty  aid. 
The  fundamental  fact  in  the  situation  is  not  against  us, 
it  is  never  against  us,  when  we  count  him  in  with  the 
factors  which  determine  the  issue. 

The  contrary  winds  have  their  high  office  to  fill.  It 
is  well  for  most  of  us  that  life  is  not  easy.  Life  is  easy  for 
clams  and  for  those  rich  men's  sons  who  undertake  no 
business  of  their  own,  who  never  seek  to  be  useful  in 
political  life,  who  lend  no  hand  to  philanthropic  effort. 
Life  is  easy  indeed  for  them,  and  look  at  them!  There  is 
not  much  to  choose  between  the  clams  in  their  mud-bath 
and  the  soft-shelled  young  men  lounging  in  the  clubs, 
driving  their  bobtailed  horses  and  saying  empty  things  to 
the  girls.  When  all  the  contrary  winds  are  taken  away, 
the  life  becomes  mere  pulp. 

The  sailor  becomes  a  mariner  not  by  paddling  his 
dory  about  in  a  quiet  mill  pond  —  he  does  it  by  launching 
out  into  the  deep  and  sailing  the  high  seas  in  all  the  winds 
that  blow.  The  boy  knows  that  his  kite  will  only  rise 
when  the  wind  blows  hard  against  it.  It  must  have  the 
wind  seeking  to  pull  it  away  and  the  stout  string  holding 
it  to.  its  course  —  then  this  correlation  of  forces  will  carry 
it  up.  The  very  difficulties  men  encounter,  the  head 
winds  they  face,  together  with  the  strong  kite-string  of 
will,  purpose  and  high  resolve  in  their  correlation,  carry 
the  personal  life  surely  and  steadily  upward. 

But  the  value  of  this  opposition  in  its  worthy  outcome 
is  heightened  by  the  fact  that  from  the  heights  the  sympa- 
thetic eyes  of  the  divine  Christ  watch  over  the  struggles 
we  make.     When  the  situation  grows  desperate,   he  comes 


164  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

to  our  relief  as  he  did  to  the  storm-tossed  disciples  on  the 
Sea  of  Galilee.  When  they  first  saw  him  they  thought  it 
was  a  ghost,  and  they  cried  out  with  fear.  Then  he  spoke 
to  them  and  quieted  their  hearts. 

The  passage  brings  to  our  minds  the  great  company  of 
men  who  spend  their  days  and  their  nights  upon  the  sea. 
The  marine  statistics  of  the  world  show  us  that  there  are 
three  millions  of  these  men.  They  are  away  from  home. 
They  live  where  there  are  no  churches,  no  firesides,  no 
pleasant,  wholesome  places  of  entertainment.  When  they 
come  ashore  at  an  occasional  port  they  find  vipers  awaiting 
them  more  hostile  and  deadly  than  the  one  which  fastened 
on  Paul's  hand  when  he  was  shipwrecked  at  Malta. 
They  are  met  by  "  barbarous  people  "  who  show  them  no 
kindness.  The  rumseller,  the  gambler,  the  harlot,  the  thief 
and  all  the  other  land  sharks  are  av/aiting  the  sailor  that 
they  may  rob  him  of  his  money  and  of  his  manhood. 

The  life  in  the  "  fo'c'sle "  is  a  rough,  hard  life.  The 
food  served  up  to  Jack,  the  place  given  him  to  sleep  and 
the  whole  setting  of  his  life  "  before  the  mast  "  are  calcu- 
lated to  sink  the  higher  instincts  and  impulses.  His  very 
soul  is  beaten  and  bruised  and  storm-tossed  by  the  mode  of 
life  Avhich  he  is  forced  to  accept.  His  lips  may  utter  rude, 
blasphemious  words,  but  his  deeper  need  cries  out  as  Peter 
cried  that  night  to  the  Saviour,  "  Lord,  help  me!  "  When 
we  remember  how  God  is  knitting  the  nations  of  the  earth 
up  into  a  new  sympathy  and  a  better  understanding  by 
travel,  by  trade,  by  the  whole  interchange  of  thought  and 
substance;  and  when  we  remember  how  necessary  the 
sailor  is  to  this  mighty  process  in  the  larger  civilization, 
we  feel  something  of  the  debt  of  gratitude  we  owe  to  the 
man  upon  the  sea. 

The  storm-tossed  men  on  the  sea  were  not  forgotten 
in  that  darkest  night  —  Christ  came  to  them  on  the  water 


HIS   METHOD  165 

asserting  his  sovereign  authority  and  his  invincible  good 
will  by  land  and  by  sea.  They  must  not  be  forgotten  by 
the  followers  of  Christ,  When  the  offering  is  taken  for  the 
Seamen's  Friend  Society  or  for  the  Floating  Work  of  the 
Endeavor  Society  or  for  some  Marine  Hospital  for  disabled 
sailors  or  for  a  Home  for  their  orphans,  we  can  still  hear 
across  the  waves  that  appeal  which  came  to  the  ears  of 
Christ,  "  Lord,  save  me!  " 

When  he  was  received  into  their  boat  "  the  wind 
ceased  and  they  were  sore  amazed."  And  then  their  arms 
made  strong  by  his  presence  and  their  hearts  relieved  from 
fear  by  his  assuring  words,  they  reached  their  desired  haven 
with  a  deeper  sense  of  the  divine  goodness.  The  contrary 
winds  had  brought  them  a  new  manifestation  of  the  divine 
watchfulness  and  care. 

"  One  ship  turns  east  and  another  west 
With  the  selfsame  winds  that  blow; 
'Tis  the  set  of  the  sails  and  not  the  gales 
Which  tells  us  the  way  to  go. 

"  Like  the  winds  of  the  sea  are  the  ways  of  fate 
As  we  voyage  along  through  life; 
'Tis  the  set  of  the  soul  which  decides  the  goal 
And  not  the  calm  or  the  strife." 

Alexander  McKenzie  of  Cambridge  was  for  many  years 
the  honored  and  useful  president  of  the  Boston  Seaman's 
Friend  Society.  In  one  of  his  sermons  he  gave  this  bit  of 
personal  history:  "  My  father  was  a  sailor.  I  was  a  boy 
when  he  came  back  from  a  three  years'  voyage.  The  ship 
had  been  signaled  from  far  away  and  a  friendly  officer  of 
the  customs  let  me  go  down  in  his  boat  to  meet  her.  As 
we  drew  near  the  ship  I  stood  in  the  bow  and  at  length 
could  see  my  father  leaning  over  the  side  of  the  ship 
watching  our  boat.  When  w^e  came  near  enough  I  waved 
my  cap.  He  saw  me  and  called  out  to  one  of  the  men, 
'  Throw  a  rope    to  my  boy.'     The  sailor    threw  the  rope 


166  THE   MASTER'S   WAY 

and  in  a  few  moments  the  boy  was  in  his  father's  arms. 
It  was  a  simple  thing,  but  many  a  time  since  have  I 
heard  that  voice,  that  command  which  has  become  en- 
treaty, and  it  has  become  the  voice  of  the  Father  in  heaven 
watching  some  child  of  his  who  needed  to  be  brought 
near  to  him.  I  have  heard  the  word  and  loved  it  and  tried 
to  make  it  God's  word  to  me  and  the  inspiration  of  my 
life.     *  Throw  a  rope  to  my  boy.'  " 

When  the  Master  had  brought  that  boatload  of  anxious 
men  safe  to  land,  the  report  of  it  went  everywhere.  And 
the  people  of  that  whole  region  began  to  carry  the  sick 
and  the  needy  of  every  sort  to  him  that  they  might  at 
least  touch  the  border  of  his  garment.  And  as  many  as 
were  brought  into  touch  with  the  Christ  were  helped. 


XXVIII 
TPIE  GREAT  QUESTION 

Mark  8  :  27-38 

The  religious  emphasis  today  is  not  on  creed  statement 
or  theological  definition.  The  mood  of  our  time  concerns 
itself  more  with  the  manifestation  of  the  religious  spirit 
in  humane  service.  This  is  undoubtedly  an  accent  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  but  there  are  other  accents.  There  are  diversi- 
ties of  operation  by  the  same  Spirit.  In  the  earlier  years  of 
Christian  history  it  was  inevitable  that  a  large  amount  of 
mental  acumen  and  moral  passion  should  be  given  to  the 
task  of  sharply  marking  off  from  the  confusing  forms  of 
paganism  surrounding  it  the  actual  content  of  the  Christian 
faith. 

"Whom  do  men  say  that  I  am?"  Jesus  asked  his 
disciples.  What  does  the  world  think  of  me?  \Vhat  is  the 
current  evaluation  placed  upon  my  life?  The  question  is 
necessary  and  vital.  It  is  a  query  propounded  not  by  some 
idle,  speculative  schoolmen,  but  by  the  One  who  taught 
men  to  do  unto  others  as  they  would  have  others  do  unto 
them,  and  himself  went  about  doing  good.  In  him  there 
was  no  divorce  of  theological  and  ethical  interest.  He  was 
unwilling  to  proceed  further  with  the  work  committed 
into  his  hands  until  his  immediate  followers  should  return 
an  answer  to  that  inquiry,  "  Whom  say  ye  that  I  am?  " 
which  his  own  self-knowledge  could  approve. 

There  v/ere  many  who  felt  that  he  was  a  good  man, 
perhaps  the  best  mxan  that  ever  lived.  They  felt  a  pro- 
found admiration  for   his  words  and   his  deeds.     They  said 

167 


168  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

"  He  is  the  equal  of  John  the  Baptist  or  Jeremiah  or  EHjah, 
or,  in  fact,  any  one  of  the  prophets."  These  current  im- 
pressions reported  by  his  disciples,  inaccurate  though  they 
were,  present  striking  evidence  as  to  the  sense  of  surpassing 
greatness  which  attached  to  him  in  the  minds  of  his  con- 
temporaries. The  people  of  that  day  who  heard  his  words 
and  saw  his  life  were  ready  to  believe  that  one  of  the  most 
renowned  leaders  of  Israel  had  risen  from  the  dead,  ap- 
pearing among  them  in  a  glorified  form. 

The  popular  estimate  thus  expressed  testifies  to  the 
many-sided  character  of  his  greatness.  Men  according  to 
their  varying  experiences  of  his  power  could  find  in  him  the 
exquisite,  brooding  tenderness  of  a  Jeremiah  or  the  blood 
and  fire  of  Elijah  the  Tishbite.  This  had  a  certain  limited 
value,  even  as  the  qualified  esteem  for  the  Master  expressed 
in  some  socialist  hall  or  in  a  slushy  magazine  article  by  men 
who  withhold  their  open  allegiance  from  him  has  some 
worth,  but  its  real  significance  is  slight.  Jesus  was  not 
content  to  be  classified  as  one  among  many  good  men 
or  even  as  the  chief. 

The  disciples  reported  that  men  were  placing  a  varying 
estimate  upon  him.  "  But  ye  —  whom  say  ye  that  I  am?  " 
He  pressed  them  for  an  open,  definite  declaration  of  their 
own  convictions  as  to  the  rank  and  quality  of  the  life  he 
manifested.  And  when  Peter,  the  spokesman  for  the  group, 
always  more  ready  with  his  words  than  the  rest,  returned 
an  answer  Jesus  could  approve,  there  fell  from  his  lips 
that  shower  of  benedictions  recorded  more  fully  in  Mat- 
thew's account  of  this  event  —  "  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon.  .  . 
on  this  I  will  build." 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  the  words  of  Peter 
assert  the  divinity  of  Christ  as  we  understand  that  doctrine 
today  —  whether  they  indeed  affirm  anything  more  than  a 
strong  conviction   as   to   his   Messiahship  without   entering 


HIS   METHOD  169 

into  the  more  Intricate  problem  as  to  his  person.  If  this 
statement  stood  unsupported  by  other  and  stronger  state- 
ments made  by  the  contemporaries  of  Jesus  in  their  effort 
to  account  for  him,  the  full  doctrine  of  his  deity  might 
never  have  come  to  hold  the  place  it  has  in  Christian 
thought. 

But  when  we  study  the  resolute  determination  of  his 
followers,  themselves  members  of  that  Hebrew  race,  steeped 
for  centuries  in  the  majestic  truth  of  the  unity  of  God,  to 
relate  his  person  to  Infinite  Being  in  a  manner  altogether 
unique  —  an  attempt  never  undertaken  on  behalf  of  Paul 
or  John  or  any  other  great  religious  leader  of  that  century; 
and  when  we  find  this  determination  clearly  and  repeatedly 
expressed  in  the  Synoptic  Gospels,  the  Fourth  Gospel,  the 
Acts  and  the  Epistles,  we  can  readily  understand  why  all 
the  great  main  branches  of  the  Christian  Church,  following 
the  lead  of  those  first  apostles,  have  made  belief  in  the 
divinity  of  Christ  an  essential  part  of  their  creeds. 

In  addition  to  the  portrait  of  Christ  as  it  stands  upon 
the  pages  of  the  New  Testament  embodying  the  estimate  of 
eye-witnesses  of  his  majesty,  there  is  the  history  of  the 
Christian  Church  for  nineteen  hundred  years.  The  lower 
conception  of  Christ  as  an  extraordinary  man  or  as  the  first 
of  created  beings  has  had  its  full  chance  to  be  heard. 
Gnostic  and  Arian,  Socinian  and  Unitarian  have  offered 
this  lower  view  to  those  who  were  puzzled  or  repelled  by 
the  higher  claim.  The  offer  has  been  made  by  men  alto- 
gether winsome  in  personal  character  and  possessed  of  un- 
usual power  in  literary  statement. 

And  what  has  been  the  result,  taking  it  by  and  large? 
We  are  not  moving  here  in  any  realm  of  metaphysical 
speculation.  We  are  not  examining  historical  sources  so 
remote  as  those  contained  in  the  pages  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment.    We  are  scrutinizing   facts   of   history  which   no   one 


170  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

thinks  of  calling  in  question.  The  adherents  of  the  lower 
view  are  but  a  small  company.  They  have  failed  to  com- 
mand any  considerable  following  or  to  develop  the  spiritual 
vigor  possessed  by  those  great  branches  of  the  church  which 
hold  the  higher  view.  They  have  failed  to  show  that  evi- 
dence of  an  all-inclusive,  self-sacrificing  moral  interest  seen 
in  those  missionary  movements  which  clasp  the  whole 
round  world  in  the  arms  of  spiritual  affection.  The  vaster 
moral  enterprises  have  been  left  to  those  bodies  of  Chris- 
tians which  hold  that  Christ  is  divine. 

Theological  claims  are  to  be  tested  by  the  scrutiny  of 
life  as  well  as  by  the  scrutiny  of  logic.  Men  do  not  gather 
grapes  of  thorns  nor  figs  of  thistles  even  though  the  thorns 
and  the  thistles  be  planted  in  ten  feet  of  black  loam,  well 
watered  and  with  a  southern  exposure.  The  inner  some- 
thing demanded  for  producing  grapes  and  figs  is  lacking. 
And  men  do  not  gather  the  highest  and  most  enduring 
spiritual  results  from  erroneous  claims  even  though  for  a 
period  outward  conditions  may  favor.  In  the  course  of 
time  the  truth  has  a  way  of  vindicating  itself  at  the  bar  of 
experience. 

The  lower  view  of  Christ's  person  has  not  stood  the 
test  of  use.  The  men  who  hold  it  have  shown  themselves 
strong  in  protest  —  and  the  juster  elements  of  that  protest 
have  been  heard  and  accepted  in  the  more  reasonable 
orthodoxy  held  by  the  evangelical  churches  of  our  day  — 
but  they  have  not  been  successful  in  creative  moral  action. 
The  moral  passion  and  spiritual  energy  which  show  them- 
selves efficient  on  the  field  of  foreign  missionary  effort,  in 
the  spread  of  the  Kingdom  in  unpromising  quarters  at 
home  and  in  the  production  of  the  necessary  volume  of 
unselfish  consecration  for  vigorous  church  life,  have  been 
the  peculiar  product  and  property  of  that  larger  section 
of   the   Christian    Church   which   has   sturdily   held    to    the 


HIS   METHOD  171 

higher  view  of  the  person  of  Christ.  On  this  he  has  built 
and  the  forces  of  evil  have  not  been  able  to  prevail  against 
it. 

But  in  the  very  hour  of  Peter's  great  confession  the 
cross  was  already  casting  its  mysterious  shadow  upon  the 
splendor  of  that  matchless  life.  "  The  Son  of  Man  must 
suffer  many  things  and  be  rejected  by  the  elders  and  be 
killed."  The  pathway  of  spiritual  advance  w^ould  be  a 
pathway  of  painful  humiliation  and  of  unmeasured  self- 
sacrifice  —  for  him  and  for  his  followers.  There  is  no  other 
way.  Saving  the  life  by  holding  it  apart  in  selfish  security 
in  the  face  of  the  world's  need  is  losing  it!  The  real  life 
is  found  only  as  it  loses  itself  by  the  loving  investment  of 
its  powers  in  service. 

,  It  was  a  hard  saying  for  Peter  and  for  the  rest.  Their 
heads  were  full  of  dreams  of  an  external  glory  in  that  com- 
ing Kingdom  which  they  believed  the  Messiah  would  speedily 
establish. 

Alas,  poor  Peter!  He  had  just  been  sent  to  the  head 
of  the  class  because  he  had  so  readily  and  justly  voiced 
the  feeling  of  the  disciples  regarding  the  person  of  Christ, 
speaking  from  a  deeper  level  of  conviction  and  spiritual 
experience  than  that  represented  in  the  current  estimates. 
And  now  because  in  his  dull  conceit  he  could  not  sympa- 
thize with  the  method  of  Jesus,  he  is  remanded  to  the  foot. 
He  knew  how  to  abound,  joyously  following  his  Master's 
steps  in  that  mighty  exaltation  to  which  he  had  given  his 
personal  testimony.  He  did  not  know  how  to  be  abased  in 
following  One  who  made  himself  of  no  reputation,  took 
upon  himself  the  form  of  a  servant  and  became  obedient 
unto  the  death  of  the  cross.  The  metal  of  Peter's  loyalty 
was  untempered,  needing  yet  the  fiery  discipline  to  which 
his  genuine  loyalty  would  surely  introduce  him. 

But  the   manifestation  of    the    glory  of    unselfish    service 


172  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

and  of  sacrificial  devotion  would  not  be  postponed  to  some 
other  state  of  being.  It  would  stand  revealed,  as  the  eyes 
of  men  were  gradually  opened  to  the  deeper  meanings  of 
human  existence.  There  were  men  standing  by  who  would 
not  taste  of  death  until  they  had  seen  the  enduring  worth 
and  the  transcendent  beauty  of  that  life  which  loses  itself 
that  it  may  find  itself,  revealed  with  power  and  great  glory. 


XXIX 
A  TROUBLED  SEA  AND  A  TROUBLED  SOUL 

Mark  4  :35  —  5:20 

"  He  maketh  the  storm  a  calm  so  that  the  waves 
thereof  are  still."  "  With  authority  he  commandeth  the 
unclean  spirits  and  they  obey  him."  In  the  realm  of 
inanimate  nature  and  in  that  sphere  where  the  Spirit  acts 
upon  spirit  there  is  the  same  assertion  of  a  Sovereign  Good 
Will. 

We  may  recall  in  this  connection  the  words  of  Princi- 
pal Fairbairn,  one  of  the  foremost  scholars  of  our  genera- 
tion: "  Once  conceive  Christ  to  be  the  extraordinary  person 
we  believe  him  to  be  and  miracles  become  to  him  both 
natural  and  necessary.  They  complete  the  picture  of  the 
divine  goodness  he  manifests,  showing  that  its  action  in 
the  physical  is  in  essential  harmony  with  its  action  in 
the  moral  sphere." 

This  whole  passage  is  a  hard  saying  and  many  there 
be  who  cannot  receive  it.  There  are  difficulties  which  are 
not  removed  either  by  the  attempts  of  such  scholars  as 
Weiss  and  Beyschlag  to  rationalize  the  references  to  the 
miraculous  or  by  the  labored  efforts  of  those  who  would 
take  every  item  in  the  narrative  literally.  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth "  was  a  prophet  mighty  in  deed  and  word  before  God 
and  all  the  people,"  as  was  said  on  the  road  to  Emmaus, 
and  when  we  stand  in  his  presence  we  stand  perpetually 
in  the  presence  of  mystery. 

It  ought  to  be  remembered  that  a  generation  ago  there 
was   a   resolute   insistence   on   the   part   of   certain   critical 

173 


174  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

scholars  that  every  reference  to  the  miraculous  in  the  Gos- 
pels be  read  out  of  court.  The  progress  of  medical  science 
in  making  plain  the  relation  of  certain  physical  disorders 
to  prevalent  states  of  mind  and  heart  and  the  immediate 
utility  of  spiritual  forces  in  the  recovery  of  health  has 
wrought  a  great  change  at  this  point.  We  now  find  in  that 
same  quarter  an  almost  cordial  readiness  to  admit  the 
"  miracles  of  healing  "  to  respectful  consideration  as  com- 
ing easily  within  the  range  of  what  may  be  deemed  proba- 
ble. It  may  be  that  an  increased  knowledge  of  the  mysteri- 
ous interaction  of  mental  and  physical  forces  will  still 
further  clear  the  air  so  that  the  '*  nature  miracles  "  which 
seem  to  some  minds  beyond  the  hope  of  mercy  and  outside 
the  pale  of  serious  consideration  may  also  demand  a  more 
truly  "  scientific  treatment." 

In  the  presence  of  the  many  unsolved  mysteries  which 
confront  us  in  the  vast  system  of  life  and  in  the  presence 
also  of  the  unique  person  of  Christ  which  of  itself  raises  an 
anticipation  that  the  great  natural  order  which  enfolded 
him  might  have  made  to  him  an  unwonted  response,  it  is 
the  part  of  intellectual  modesty  to  await  such  further  light 
as  may  come  before  making  a  dogmatic  pronouncement 
against  these  narratives  whose  spiritual  content  is  so  bound 
up  with  the  most  effective  redemptive  forces  in  the  spiritual 
history  of  the  race. 

I  am  free  to  confess  that  I  find  it  easier  to  fit  the 
narratives  of  miraculous  healing  into  my  own  conception 
of  the  general  scheme  of  things  than  to  welcome  there  the 
narratives  as  to  the  feeding  of  the  multitude,  the  walking 
on  the  water  or  the  stilling  of  the  storm.  But  given  the 
personality  of  Jesus  Christ  as  I  find  it  outlined  before  me 
on  the  pages  of  the  New  Testament  and  as  I  find  it  pic- 
tured in  yet  bolder  lines  in  the  record  of  moral  renewal  in 
all  lands  through  the  power  of  his  Name  and  his  Grace  for 


HIS   METHOD  175 

the  last  nineteen  centuries,  I  can  readily  believe  that  he 
achieved  results  both  in  the  realm  of  inanimate  nature  and 
in  the  realm  of  sentient  spirit  which  transcend  the  ordinary 
categories  of  cause  and  effect  as  at  present  understood. 

In  the  first  of  the  two  narratives  contained  in  this 
lesson  we  find  the  Master  wearied  by  his  teaching  and  by 
the  other  labors  of  the  day.  His  sheer  fatigue  made  it 
possible  for  him  to  sleep  untroubled  through  a  storm  which 
caused  the  waves  to  beat  into  the  boat.  The  disciples  were 
amazed  at  his  careless  indifference  to  his  own  safety  and 
theirs.  '*  Master,  carest  thou  not  that  we  perish?  "  When 
they  had  awakened  him,  he  said,  "  Where  is  your  faith?  " 
He  was  less  disturbed  by  the  tossing  waves  about  him 
than  by  the  fickle,  troubled  hearts  of  those  who  in  spite  of 
all  they  had  witnessed  of  his  mighty,  beneficent  power,  were 
still  fearful  even  though  they  voyaged  with  him. 

But  he  arose  and  rebuked  the  winds.  He  said,  "  Peace, 
be  still! "  And  the  wind  ceased  and  there  was  a  great 
calm.  Why  not?  In  the  last  analysis,  according  to  the 
philosophy  which  today  exercises  the  most  potent  influence 
over  the  thinking  of  all  serious  men  who  come  to  close 
grips  with  fundamental  problems,  the  ultimate  power  in 
what  we  call  "  the  natural  world  "  is  mind  or  spirit.  And 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  stands  to  this  hour  as  the  supreme 
manifestation  in  history  of  that  Power  and  as  its  most 
highly  accredited  Agent.  If  the  simple  narrative  here 
laid  before  us  seems  to  stagger  our  belief,  no  less  does 
his  own  character  and  the  record  of  his  redemptive  effi- 
cacy as  evidenced  in  historical  events  which  cannot  be 
gainsaid. 

When  they  reached  the  other  side  of  the  lake  they  met 
a  raging  madman  in  the  country  of  the  Gadarenes.  The 
symptoms  recorded  in  the  narratives  of  these  demoniacs  seem 
to  fall  under  three  heads  —  they  were  the  symptoms  we  would 


176  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

today  attribute  to  insanity,  to  epilepsy  or  to  the  paralysis 
of  some  particular  function.  The  indications  here  point  to 
insanity.  The  man  was  utterly  abnormal  in  his  mode  of 
life  —  "he  had  his  dwelling  among  the  tombs."  He  showed 
an  unnatural,  ungovernable  strength  in  his  frenzy — "no 
man  could  bind  him,  no,  not  with  chains."  In  another 
gospel  it  is  stated  that  "  he  was  exceeding  fierce  so  that  no 
man  might  pass  that  way."  Luke  adds  that  "  he  wore  no 
clothes."  His  whole  mode  of  life  showed  him  irrational 
—  "  always,  night  and  day,  he  was  in  the  mountains  crying 
and  cutting  himself  with  stones." 

"  When  he  saw  Jesus  afar  off,"  something  in  the  Mas- 
ter's look  and  bearing  drew  the  sufferer  to  his  feet.  "  He 
ran  and  worshiped  him."  When  asked  his  name,  the  wild 
reply  was,  "  Legion."  His  mental  and  nervous  disorder 
was  such  that  he  felt  as  if  he  were  in  the  grip  of  a  thousand 
devils.  Jesus  healed  him  so  that  presently  his  associates 
to  their  consternation  found  him  "  sitting  clothed  and  in 
his  right  mind."  However  unscientific  their  former  diag- 
nosis may  have  been  in  seeking  to  account  for  those  mys- 
terious nervous  and  mental  maladies  which  baffle  the 
knowledge  and  skill  of  our  leading  medical  men  to  this 
hour,  they  recognized  the  fact  that  restoration  meant  being 
once  more  in  his  "  right  mind." 

Now  there  was  a  herd  of  swine  feeding  on  the  steep 
cliff  which  rises  abruptly  from  that  side  of  the  Lake  in  the 
country  of  the  Gadarenes.  And  at  that  juncture  "  the 
herd  ran  violently  down  a  steep  place  into  the  sea  and 
were  choked  in  the  sea."  It  seems  altogether  probable 
that  some  extraordinary  frenzy  on  the  part  of  the  insane 
man  just  before  he  was  restored  to  his  right  mind  frightened 
the  swine  and  led  to  their  stampede  over  the  edge  of  the 
cliff  and  to  their  destruction  in  the  sea. 

The   witnesses    of    these    strange    events    introduced    a 


HIS  METHOD  177 

causal  connection  between  the  two  events  which  does  not 
commend  itself  to  the  sober  judgment  of  most  scholars  in 
our  day.  The  insane  man  was  healed  and  the  herd  of 
swine  ran  over  the  edge  of  the  cliff  and  was  drowned.  But 
the  attributing  of  the  man's  mental  disorder  to  demoniacal 
possession  and  the  attributing  of  his  cure  to  the  passing 
of  the  devils  from  the  body  of  the  man  into  the  bodies  of 
the  swine  with  the  implications  regarding  the  strange 
Eastern  doctrine  of  the  transmigration  of  souls  from  human 
bodies  into  animal  forms  (a  notion  to  which  our  Scriptures 
nowhere  else  give  the  least  indorsement),  would  seem  to  be 
the  inaccurate  interpretation  of  the  two  events  due  to  the 
imperfect  knowledge  of  that  period. 

The  fact  that  a  certain  recognition  of  Jesus  as  the 
Son  of  God  is  attributed  to  these  demoniacs  here  and  else- 
where would  seem  to  have  little  significance.  If  we  accept 
the  words  at  their  full  face  value  we  would  not  think  of 
going  for  a  certification  of  the  deity  of  our  Lord  to  the 
words  of  demoniacs. 

But  here  was  the  man  who  an  hour  before  had  showed 
all  the  symptoms  which  belong  to  insanity  in  its  most 
violent  form  sitting  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind!  Here 
he  was  so  moved  with  awe  and  gratitude  for  his  recovery 
that  he  besought  Jesus  that  he  might  go  with  him  as  a 
personal  attendant  and  disciple!  What  better  evidence 
could  we  have  of  "  a  right  mind  "  and  of  a  grateful  and 
obedient  heart!  The  storm  had  ceased  in  his  troubled 
nature  also  and  there  was  a  great  calm.  What  manner  of 
man  is  this?  The  wind  and  the  sea  obey  him.  He  com- 
mandeth  the  maladies  of  men  and  they  become  submissive 
to  his  power. 

But  Jesus  suffered  him  not!  "  Go  home  to  thy  friends 
and  tell  them  how  great  things  the  Lord  hath  done  for 
thee."     It    was    humane    counsel  —  the    nervous    sufferer 


178  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

would  more  easily  become  established  in  a  normal  life  by 
the  quiet  of  his  own  home  than  under  the  perennial  stimu- 
lus and  excitement  wliich  attended  the  public  ministry  of 
Jesus.  It  was  also  a  politic  word,  for  the  Master  shrank 
from  being  known  mainly  as  a  wonder-worker.  It  was  also 
the  command  of  a  wise  spiritual  director  —  there  in  the 
country  of  the  Gadarenes  so  little  influenced  by  the  ministry 
of  Jesus  and  his  disciples,  the  grateful  man  would  find  his 
best  chance  for  rendering  that  useful  service  which  would 
make  for  his  own  growth  in  grace. 

Here  in  this  passage  we  find  the  Master  teaching  by 
word  of  mouth  and  by  mighty  deed!  He  saves  to  the  utter- 
most and  to  the  outermost.  He  finds  a  joyous  warrant 
for  the  stormy  voyage  across  the  troubled  lake  in  the  op- 
portunity which  offered  to  bring  peace  and  joy  to  a 
troubled  heart.  He  maketh  the  storm  a  calm.  He  re- 
placeth  the  spirit  of  fear  with  power  and  love  and  a  sound 
mind. 


XXX 

THE    CHRIST   AND   THE    CHILD 

Mark  9  :  30-41;  10  :  13-16 

Human  nature  Is  human  nature  everywhere.  The 
proud,  fond  mother  may  speak  EngHsh  and  live  in  the 
twentieth  century  or  she  may  speak  Hebrew  and  Hve  in  the 
first;  in  certain  essentials  she  is  the  same  original  fact  in 
both  cases.  She  is  happy  in  the  possession  of  her  children 
and  she  is  ready  to  believe  that  this  supreme  interest  of 
her  life  will  be  shared  by  those  she  meets. 

The  Master  was  at  the  height  of  his  popularity. 
Everybody  was  talking  about  him,  discussing  what  he  had 
done  last,  wondering  what  he  would  do  next.  He  was 
healing  the  sick,  opening  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  causing 
the  lame  to  walk,  preaching  good  tidings  to  the  poor. 
His  very  touch  was  supposed  to  have  a  miraculous  effect. 
These  mothers  with  their  little  ones  in  their  arms  coveted 
every  possible  benefit  for  them,  as  all  good  mothers  do. 
They  pressed  their  way  through  the  crowd  to  ask  the 
Master  to  touch  their  children  and  bless  them. 

The  disciples  rebuked  them  for  their  presumption. 
They  were  undertaking  to  intrude  upon  the  attention  of  the 
Master  such  trivial  interests  as  little  children.  These 
grown  men  in  their  mature  wisdom  understood  perfectly 
that  Jesus  could  not  concern  himself  with  little  children, 
no  matter  how  much  their  mothers  loved  them.  He  was 
the  Lord  and  Master  of  grown-up  people  like  themselves. 
He  came  to  address  adults  and  to  busy  himself  with  the 
serious  concerns  of  the  mature. 

179 

/ 


180  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

The  disciples,  therefore,  rebuked  the  mothers  who 
seemed  overfond  of  their  own  babies,  and  tried  to  send 
them  away.  But  when  Jesus  saw  it  he  was  much  dis- 
pleased. "  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me,"  he 
said;  "  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of 
heaven." 

Keep  the  way  open  for  the  children!  Keep  the  way 
open  into  the  fullest  measure  of  opportunity  here  sym- 
bolized by  the  outstretched  arms  of  Christ!  Keep  the  way 
open  for  every  child  to  come  freely  into  the  highest  privi- 
leges, physical,  mental,  moral,  which  a  civilization  called 
Christian  can  provide!  Let  no  adult  prejudice,  no  stupid 
ignorance  unwilling  to  study  the  psychology  of  the  child, 
no  selfishness  exalting  its  own  ease  and  pleasure  above  the 
demands  of  the  immature  life,  no  greed  ready  to  grind 
up  the  puny  strength  of  the  undeveloped  into  hasty  profits, 
stand  in  the  way  of  the  normal  unfolding  of  every  child 
into  its  best! 

It  is  a  far-reaching  word  with  tremendous  content. 
"  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come!  "  We  may  be  sure 
that  all  ignorantly  or  wickedly  devised  plans  to  retard  the 
advance  of  the  child  into  all  that  the  Master  had  in  mind 
in  his  gracious  invitation  will  have  against  them  the  full 
strength  of  the  One  who  has  taken  the  moral  government 
of  the  world  upon  his  shoulder. 

We  are  moving  in  this  august  matter  —  slovvdy  and 
tardily,  but  moving.  The  vital  interest  of  "  Christian 
nurture  "  is  being  lifted  by  a  more  thorough  and  generous 
interest  in  the  work  of  the  Sunday  school  to  that  high 
place  which  Horace  Bushnell,  always  a  generation  or  two 
ahead  of  his  own  time,  gave  it  in  his  wise  appraisal.  We 
are  actually  coming  to  believe  that  if  wise  church  policy 
ordains  that  trained  sopranos  and  altos,  tenors  and  basses 
may  fitly  be  employed  on  generous  terms  to  sing  the  ma- 


HIS   METHOD  181 

ture  Into  the  land  of  promise,  it  may  be  permissible  to  draw 
upon  the  church  treasury  to  employ  a  man  trained  and 
expert  in  such  matters  to  give  his  entire  time  to  the 
organization  and  administration  of  a  Sunday  school 
where  character  is  setting  in  the  responsive  lives  of  boys 
and  girls.  How  lacking  in  skill  and  insight  have  been  many 
of  our  awkward  efforts  in  this  high  undertaking!  And 
all  the  while  the  Maste^was  saying  to  every  church  which 
bears  his  name,  "  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto 
me. 

The  full  strength  of  public  opinion  is  moving  in  the 
direction  of  better  laws  regarding  child  labor  to  safeguard 
the  soft  flesh  of  the  child  from  the  horny  hand  of  greed. 
The  unscrupulous  employer  may  hold  a  big  dollar  so  close 
to  his  ear  as  to  shut  out  the  feeble,  plaintive  cry  of  the 
child  who  is  being  worked  too  soon  and  too  hard.  But 
today  in  community  after  community  that  cry  is  being 
caught  up  and  re-enforced  by  the  manly  voice  of  Christian 
sentiment  issuing  from  tens  of  thousands  of  throats  as  a 
bugle  call  for  the  advance  of  a  more  humane  practice. 
"  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  to  their  best  "  —  this 
word  is  with  power  and  it  will  make  itself  felt  until  the 
present  disgrace  of  child  labor  shall  be  v/iped  from  the  fair 
face  of  our  land. 

There  are  men  who  scoff  at  this  agitation  against  child 
labor.  I  fear  that  their  eyes  are  more  upon  the  cash-book 
than  upon  the  teachings  of  the  New  Testament.  Some  of 
them  went  to  work  when  they  were  eleven  or  twelve  years 
old  and  they  have  been  earning  their  livings  ever  since. 
"  Look  at  us,"  they  say,  "  we  were  thrown  on  our  own 
resources  early  in  life  when  there  were  no  child  labor  laws 
butting  into  the  business  of  practical  men;  and  we  have 
succeeded." 

But  they  were   men  of   exceptional   energy  and   capacity 


182  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

from  the  start  —  their  careers  furnish  no  general  principle 
for  society  generally.  It  would  be  in  the  highest  degree 
eibsurd  for  me  to  go  to  some  unfortunate  weakling  who  by 
heredity,  environment  and  lack  of  training  has  never  had  a 
fair  chance  for  a  sound  body,  a  clear  head  and  an  honest 
heart,  and  say  to  him:  "  Here,  you  poor  scrub!  I  can 
behave  myself  and  take  care  of  myself  and  have  strength 
left  for  other  loads  —  why  cannot  you?  " 

No  man  who  grows  rich  by  exploiting  the  labor  of 
boys  and  girls  can  ever  quite  close  his  eyes  to  the  iniquity 
of  the  proceeding.  He  may  be  ever  so  obtuse  morally, 
but  there  will  come  hours  when  the  shame  of  it  will  burn 
like  a  hot  iron.  When  he  sits  at  an  open  fire  in  the  luxury 
of  his  own  home  he  will  see  there  in  the  grate  the  burned- 
out  energies  of  breaker  boys  working  at  the  mouth  of  the 
mine.  When  his  wife  and  daughters  rustle  into  the  room 
clothed  in  silk  and  lace  the  very  luxury  of  their  appearance 
will  whisper  to  him  of  immature  lives  gone  down  in  defeat 
under  the  pressure  of  their  ill-timed  toil. 

No  matter  though  they  were  willing  to  be  employed 
and  had  the  consent  of  selfish  or  short-sighted  parents 
(themselves  thrust  out  of  their  natural  employment,  it 
may  be,  by  the  presence  of  the  cheap  child  labor),  the  man 
who  has  profited  by  it  will  be  conscious  of  the  selfish 
cruelty  of  such  a  policy.  "It  were  better,"  Jesus  said, 
compassionate  though  he  was,  "  that  a  man  who  causes 
a  little  child  to  stumble  and  fall  should  have  a  millstone 
tied  about  his  neck  and  be  cast  into  the  sea."  This  would 
be  a  good  text  to  have  framed  and  hung  at  the  "  Em- 
ployes Entrance  "  of  some  of  our  factories  which  profit 
by  the  tragic  undoing  of  the  immature. 

In  the  light  of  this  passage  hear  the  words  of  prayer 
which  Walter  Rauschenbusch  would  put  upon  the  lips  of 
men:     "O  Thou   great  Father  of  the  weak,   lay   thy  hand 


HIS   METHOD  183 

tenderly  on  all  the  little  children  on  earth  and  bless  them. 
Bless  with  a  sevenfold  blessing  the  young  lives  whose 
slender  shoulders  are  already  bowed  beneath  the  yoke  of 
toil.  Suffer  not  their  little  bodies  to  be  utterly  sapped 
and  their  minds  to  be  given  over  to  stupidity  and  vice. 
Grant  all  employers  of  labor  stout  hearts  to  refuse  enrich- 
ment at  such  a  price.  By  the  Holy  Child  that  nestled  in 
Mary's  bosom;  by  the  memories  of  our  own  childhood's 
joys  and  sorrows;  by  the  sacred  possibilities  that  slumber 
in  every  child,  we  beseech  thee  to  save  us  from  killing  the 
sweetness  of  young  life  by  the  greed  of  gain." 

On  another  occasion  Jesus  asked  his  disciples  what 
they  had  been  discussing,  for  he  saw  the  marks  of  angry 
contention  graven  upon  their  faces.  "  They  held  their 
peace  "  —  they  were  ashamed  to  tell.  They  had  been  dis- 
puting as  to  which  one  of  them  should  be  the  greatest  in 
the  Kingdom  Jesus  was  to  establish.  Peter  and  James  and 
John  had  been  taken  with  Jesus  into  the  chamber  of  death 
in  the  house  of  Jairus  and  into  the  mountain  top  of  glory 
when  Jesus  was  transfigured  —  they  had  been  accorded  a 
certain  pre-eminence.  James  and  John  had  filed  their 
petitions  for  places  on  the  right  and  left  hand  of  the  seat 
of  power;  and  Peter  had  been  called  a  "rock"  of  strength 
in  the  new  Kingdom.     But  who  would  be  first? 

The  Master  was  ashamed  of  them  —  when  they  saw 
the  look  in  his  eyes  they  were  ashamed  of  themselves.  He 
said:  "  If  any  man  would  be  first  let  him  be  last  —  let  him 
become  a  servant.  Among  the  Gentiles  the  '  great '  ones 
exercise  lordship  and  dominion.  It  shall  not  be  so  among 
you.     Here  the  greatest  of  all  is  the  servant  of  all." 

Here  was  the  death  knell  of  that  foolish  theory  that 
the  greatest  man  is  the  man  who  can  compel  the  largest 
number  of  people  to  serve  him!  Here  is  the  dawn  of  a  day 
when  the  only  valid  aristocracy  will  be  one  of  high  service. 


184  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

If  any  man  would  rise  let  him  stoop  to  serve!  If  any 
would  be  exalted  let  him  take  upon  himself  the  form  and  the 
mood  of  the  servant! 

Then  Jesus  again  took  a  child  and  set  him  in  the 
midst,  as  a  fit  embodiment  of  that  spirit  which  enables 
men  to  enter  and  to  advance  in  his  Kingdom.  "  Of  such 
is  the  Kingdom,"  he  said.  Modesty,  humility,  simplicity, 
gentleness,  teachableness,  responsiveness  —  these  are  the 
leading  traits  of  normal  childhood  —  and  these  indicate  the 
path  by  which  mature  men  may  enter  the  Kingdom. 

"  He  took  them  up  in  his  arms  and  put  his  hands  on 
them  and  blessed  them"  —  a  gracious,  personal,  exalting 
service  rendered  by  the  Highest  to  the  simplest!  Let  this 
sight  symbolize  the  gracious  protecting,  uplifting  attitude 
which  Christian  society  is  to  take  toward  these  little  lives 
completely  at  our  mercy  and  committed  to  our  care." 


XXXI 
THE   MISSION    OF   THE   TWELVE 

Matt.  9  :  35-38;  10  :  34-42 

"  Jesus  went  about  all  the  cities  and  villages,  teaching, 
preaching,  healing."  Here  we  have  the  original  trinity  of 
redemptive  agencies  familiar  today  on  all  the  mission 
fields  of  earth.  Teaching,  preaching,  healing,  the  school, 
the  church,  the  hospital,  the  schoolmaster,  the  minister  and 
the  physician,  projecting  the  Christian  energy  into  every 
place  whither  he  himself  would  come! 

"  When  he  saw  the  multitudes  he  was  moved  with 
compassion.  They  fainted  —  literally  were  *  mangled,  rent, 
fleeced  '  —  and  were  scattered  abroad  as  sheep  having  no 
shepherd.  He  said  to  his  disciples,  '  The  harvest  is 
plenteous  —  the  laborers  are  few.'"  He  recognized  his  own 
inability  to  touch  all  those  needy  lives.  He  therefore 
undertook  to  multiply  himself.  He  began  that  process 
in  spiritual  arithmetic  which  should  continue  unto  the  ac- 
complishment of  his  perfect  will.  He  multiplied  himself  by 
twelve,  then  by  seventy,  then  by  three  thousand.  And  the 
end  is  not  yet  —  the  process  is  still  in  operation.  As  the 
Father  sent  him,  he  will  send  and  send  and  send  until 
by  this  utilization  of  consecrated  personality  all  shall  come 
to  know  him  from  the  least  to  the  greatest. 

The  disproportion  between  the  possible  harvest  to  be 
reaped  and  the  number  of  effective  reapers  oppressed  him. 
He  urged  his  followers  to  pray  that  additional  laborers 
might  be  sent  forth.  The  same  urgency  exists  today  as 
witnessed  by  the  showing  made  in  such  books  as  John  R. 

185 


186  THE   MASTER'S   WAY 

Mott's  "  Future  Leadership  of  the  Church."  It  is  impera- 
tive that  parents  and  pastors  alike  should  have  upon  their 
hearts  the  sense  of  responsibility  for  turning  strong,  capable, 
devoted  young  men  into  the  work  of  the  Christian  ministry. 
There  are  splendid  rewards  and  honors  awaiting  young 
men  in  law,  in  medicine  or  in  the  work  of  education,  in 
commerce,  in  manufacturing  or  in  engineering.  And  into 
these  callings  strong  and  useful  men  are  going  in  such 
numbers  that  no  cry  of  need  is  coming  back.  But  in 
every  branch  of  the  Christian  Church  in  every  state  of  the 
Union  there  is  a  loud  call  for  more  young  men  of  sound 
health,  good  sense,  trained  intelligence,  social  sympathy 
and  genuine  character  to  enter  the  ministry  and  furnish 
the  needed  spiritual  leadership.  "  Pray  the  Lord  of  the 
harvest  that  he  send  forth  laborers." 

When  he  called  the  twelve  '*  he  gave  them  power." 
It  was  not  official,  it  was  personal.  He  gave  them  power  to 
heal  and  power  to  cast  out  the  unclean  spirit.  He  gave 
them  through  their  intimate  sense  of  fellowship  with  him 
the  spiritual  dynamic  which  made  them  efficient. 

He  continued  all  night  in  prayer  to  God  in  preparation 
for  this  action.  He  saw  in  this  selection  of  personal  repre- 
sentatives the  first  decisive  step  in  the  expansion  of  his 
work  to  the  point  where  he  should  have  established  a 
universal  religion.  He  was  making  ready  to  say,  "  Go  ye 
into  all  the  world."  He  was  naming  men  who  should  sit 
on  twelve  thrones  of  spiritual  influence  in  Israel,  bear 
witness  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  and  have  their 
names  inscribed  at  last  on  the  foundation  stones  of  the 
city  of  God. 

He  was  praying  for  those  twelve  men  in  this  new  and 
strange  experience.  They  had  been  ears  in  their  relation 
to  him  —  now  they  were  to  be  lips.  His  truth  had  been 
their  lesson  —  now  it  was  to  be  their  message.     He  had 


HIS   METHOD  1^7 

been  saying  to  them,  "  Come,"  "  Follow,"  "  Learn  of  me." 
Now  they  must  "go,"  "  teach "  and  "  disciple "  other 
men.  The  word  of  Jesus  opened  a  new  door  in  each  man's 
life  transforming  the  disciple  into  an  apostle. 

They  were  to  begin  with  the  duty  that  lay  nearest. 
They  were  not  to  go  into  the  way  of  the  Gentiles  nor  into 
any  city  of  the  Samaritans,  but  "  rather  to  the  lost  sheep 
of  the  house  of  Israel."  The  way  to  gain  personal  charac- 
ter and  to  evangelize  the  world  is  to  do  the  thing  which 
needs  doing  right  at  hand.  Men  are  not  called  from  Troas 
over  into  Macedonia  to  help  a  new  continent  into  the 
light  until  they  have  rendered  useful  service  in  that  part 
of  Asia  where  they  were  born. 

This  charge  gave  them  the  simpler  task  first.  The 
conversion  of  Samaritans  and  of  Gentiles  raised  intricate 
questions  demanding  experience  and  maturity  for  their 
solution.  The  Master  wisely  reckons  with  our  slowly 
developing  powers. 

The  next  charge  had  to  do  with  their  message.  "  As 
ye  go  preach,  saying,  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand." 
They  were  to  accompany  this  proclamation  with  adequate 
credentials  by  healing  the  sick,  and  casting  out  the  unclean 
spirits.  They  were  both  to  proclaim  and  to  utilize  that 
system  of  spiritual  forces  which  once  put  in  operation  makes 
for  health,  for  sanity  and  for  holiness. 

The  word  "  kingdom  "  is  a  key  word  in  the  teaching  of 
Christ  and  he  made  it  central  in  the  message  of  his  apostles. 
He  laid  it  on  the  lips  of  those  he  taught  to  pray —  "  when 
ye  pray,  say.  Thy  kingdom  come."  He  bade  men  "  seek 
first  the  kingdom."  He  stood  before  Pilate  with  the  death 
sentence  impending,  speaking  still  of  "  My  kingdom." 
The  imperial  quality  of  the  term  broadens  the  sympathies 
of  every  true  Christian  until  they  become  world  wide. 
The  Christian  Church  is  watching  to  see  the  Son  of  Man 


188  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

coming  In  his  kingdom;  it  is  intent  upon  having  the  king- 
doms of  this  world  become  the  kingdoms  of  our  Lord; 
and  it  will  never  conclude  its  prayer  until  it  can  say, 
"  Thine  is  the  kingdom  and  the  power  and  the  glory." 

The  twelve  men  were  to  rely  for  their  support  upon 
the  gratitude  of  the  people  to  whom  they  ministered. 
They  were  to  have  the  confidence  of  husbandmen  in  the 
good  seed  they  carried.  They  would  sow  to  men  in  spiritual 
things  with  the  glad  assurance  that  they  would  reap  in 
material  things  a  return  adequate  for  their  need.  They 
were  to  trust  to  the  good  instincts  of  their  hearers,  con- 
fidently leaving  to  them  the  practical  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  "  the  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  meat." 

The  twelve  men  were  to  live  such  lives  that  their 
presence  in  any  home  would  be  a  benediction.  They 
would  convey  the  peace  and  grace  of  God  by  their  very 
approach.  "As  ye  enter  into  the  house  ...  let  your  peace 
come  upon  it."  The  genuine  Christian  as  he  goes  straight 
along  about  his  Master's  business,  conscious  of  his  high 
commission  pronounces  not  in  formal  words  but  in  vital 
influence  his  own  benediction  on  every  house  able  to  re- 
ceive it. 

Where  their  ministry  was  declined  and  the  offer  of 
divine  truth  refused  they  were  to  make  a  dignified  protest  — 
"As  ye  go  forth  out  of  that  house  or  city  shake  off  the 
dust  of  your  feet."  It  was  not  to  be  an  expression  of 
petty  resentment  or  personal  disappointment  —  it  was  to 
be  "for  a  testimony."  The  touchiness  of  the  eccle- 
siastic who  fancies  that  any  lack  of  deference  to  him  is  an 
affront  to  God  and  a  grieving  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  one 
thing,  but  the  decorous  protest  uttered  upon  seeing  some 
man  or  some  community  entering  upon  a  wrong  course  is 
quite  another. 

There    is   a   testimony    of    protest    and   of    warning    no 


HIS   METHOD  189 

less  than  of  promise  and  encouragement.  This  paragraph 
from  the  high  commission  which  began  with  the  hopeful 
announcement,  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand," 
looks  out  solemnly  at  its  close  on  the  backs  of  those  who 
had  refused  the  message.  "It  shall  be  more  tolerable  for 
the  land  of  Sodom  and  Gomxorrah  in  the  day  of  judgment 
than  for  that  city." 

And  then  as  a  climax  to  this  ordination  address  the 
Master  laid  down  the  doctrine  that  God  is  ever  mediated 
to  us  in  terms  of  personality.  "  He  that  receiveth  you, 
receiveth  me  and  he  that  receiveth  me  receiveth  him  that 
sent  me."  This  statement  affirms  in  reverse  order  the  vari- 
ous steps  in  that  spiritual  process  indicated  where  Jesus 
said,  "  As  the  Father  hath  sent  me,  I  send  you."  He  would 
bridge  the  whole  distance  between  the  lowest  form  of 
human  need  and  the  highest  help  of  heaven  by  flesh  and 
blood  yielding  itself  to  divine  grace. 

"The  tabernacle  of  God  is  with  men"  —  with  those 
men  who  do  not  exclude  but  welcome  him  to  the  fullest 
participation  in  their  lives.  The  spirit  of  God  functions 
in  the  life  of  a  devoted  man  as  it  does  nowhere  else  in  the 
visible  creation.  The  lines  and  features  of  that  Ineffable 
Face  which  no  man  has  seen  at  any  time  nor  can  see, 
look  out  from  the  faces  of  Christians  who  stand  unveiled 
in  the  presence  of  the  divine  glory  until  they  are  changed 
into  the  same  image.  And  because  this  is  true,  to  receive 
a  true  disciple  of  Christ  into  the  life  as  a  personal  force 
is  to  receive  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  to  receive  the  spirit 
of  Christ  is  to  come  into  filial  relations  with  the  Eternal 
Father. 

Jesus  would  have  the  sacramental  value  and  signifi- 
cance of  these  human  relations  recognized  even  to  the 
slightest  detail.  If  any  one  would  give  a  cup  of  cold  water 
in  the  name  of  a  disciple  (that  is  in  the  right    spirit),  he 


190  THE   MASTER'S   WAY 

would  not  fail  of  his  reward.  When  one  takes  the  tiniest 
sunbeam  in  the  remotest  corner  of  the  universe  and  begins 
to  follow  it,  he  is  headed  straight  for  the  center  of  the  solar 
system.  When  one  receives  and  begins  to  live  by  that  spirit 
of  unselfish  devotion  which  may  find  expression  in  the 
simplest  occurrences  of  daily  life,  he  is  in  line  to  receive 
and  to  know  the  One  who  is  the  source  of  all  love. 

"  Love  one  another  for  love  is  of  God.  Every  one 
that  loveth  is  born  of  God  and  knoweth  God."  The  heart 
of  love  shows  the  family  resemblance.  It  does  not  need  to 
appeal  to  any  coat  of  arms  or  heraldry  to  establish  its  rela- 
tionship. 

The  letter  of  this  commission  contains  local  details 
and  counsels  for  the  day,  but  the  spirit  of  it  moves  above 
time  or  place.  It  is  addressed  to  every  soul  called  to  aid 
in  establishing  the  kingdom.  Every  Christian  is  "  sent 
forth."  If  he  has  "  learned  "  of  Jesus  as  a  "  disciple  "  he 
must  now  "  go  and  teach  "  as  an  ''  apostle."  And  in  this 
high  undertaking  the  One  to  whom  all  power  has  been 
given  will  be  with  him  even  unto  the  consummation  of  the 
age. 


XXXII 
THE  PENITENT  WOMAN 

Luke  7  :  36-50 

The  Master  uttered  his  clearest  warnings  against  and 
pronounced  his  severest  condemnation  upon  two  cardinal 
and  capital  sins.  They  were  not  the  coarse  sins  of  the 
flesh  which  respectable  people  can  so  easily  avoid  and  con- 
demn. The  two  sins  which  called  forth  the  gravest  words 
from  our  Lord  were  these,  inhumanity  and  the  uncharitable 
spirit.  He  seemed  to  feel  that  the  greatest  peril  among 
those  he  addressed  lay  at  these  two  points  rather  than 
in  those  coarser  forms  of  wrongdoing  into  which  men  are 
suddenly  betrayed  by  temper  or  passion.  The  cold-hearted, 
selfish  sin  of  inhumanity  and  the  proud  Pharisaical  attitude 
devoid  of  charity,  these  were  the  moral  defects  to  which  he 
gave  his  most  serious  attention. 

The  lack  of  charity  for  the  moral  failure  of  others  works 
terrible  results.  **  Whose  soever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are  re- 
tained.''  What  you  bind  on  earth  is  ofttimes  bound  in 
the  realm  of  moral  permanence.  The  girl  who  has  slipped 
from  the  path  of  purity  is  hardened  by  the  world's  scorn 
into  brazen  effrontery.  The  contempt  of  society  makes  her 
defiant  until  she  flings  back  that  scorn  in  her  own  contempt 
for  the  decencies  of  life.  Society  shuts  the  door  in  her 
face  with  a  slam  until  she  bows  to  its  harsh  verdict  and 
goes  upon  the  street.  Honorable  employment  is  denied  her 
because  of  her  slip  and  she  accepts  "  Mrs.  Warren's  Profes- 
sion "  as  the  last  alternative.  And  in  less  than  five  years 
on   an   average,    according   to   the   terrible   findings   of   the 

191 


192  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

Commission  on  Vice  in  Chicago,  her  body,  become  a  thing 
of  loathing  even  before  she  died,  is  in  the  cemetery  and 
her  soul  is  —  where? 

That  harsh  and  hasty  attitude  toward  the  girl  when  she 
first  steps  aside  from  the  path  of  purity  is  devilish.  It 
would  more  offend  the  soul  of  him  who  spoke  those  plain 
words  about  the  sin  of  inhumanity  and  the  unforgiving 
spirit  than  would  the  coarser  sins  against  which  we  can  so 
fiercely  inveigh.  And  thousands  of  such  girls  have  been 
sent  down  sharply  and  swiftly  into  physical,  social  and 
moral  hell  who  might  have  been  recovered  to  lives  of 
honor,  usefulness  and  happiness  by  the  wise  and  patient 
mercy  which  finds  expression  in  such  beneficent  in- 
stitutions, for  example,  as  the  Talitha  Cumi  Home  in 
Boston. 

How  long  will  it  take  the  world  to  learn  that  scorn 
never  recovered  a  guilty  soul  from  the  grip  of  evil.  Satan 
does  not  cast  out  Satan  —  he  cannot.  The  Beelzebub  of 
uncharity  and  inhumanity  does  not  cast  out  devils  — 
that  spirit  is  the  prince  of  devils  and  its  house  is  not 
divided  against  itself.  If  any  one  is  overtaken  in  a  fault 
you  who  are  spiritual  —  for  you  are  the  only  ones  who  can 
—  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  steadily 
considering  yourselves  lest  you  also  be  tempted.  Whose 
sins  ye  remit  they  are  remitted!  The  power  of  absolution 
and  moral  recovery  belongs  to  Christian  society  as  it 
learns  the  wise  exercise  of  sympathy  and  the  energy  of 
its  own  expectant  faith  in  the  latent  moral  capacity  of 
those  who  have  failed. 

Here  in  the  lesson  we  have  life-size  moving  pictures  of 
these  moral  principles.  We  see  them  in  action.  Simon  the 
Pharisee,  haughty,  supercilious,  withholding  in  grudging 
fashion  the  common  courtesies  from  the  guest  he  had  bid- 
den to  his  home  because  of  his  fancied  superiority  to  this 


HIS   METHOD  193 

humble  man  of  Nazareth,  furnishes  us  a  full-page,  life-size 
illustration  of  how  it  ought  not  to  be  done. 

The  chivalry  of  the  Christ  even  toward  the  woman  who 
had  forfeited  her  rightful  claims  to  consideration  by  her  infi- 
delity to  womanly  ideals  and  his  oft-proclaimed  message  of 
hope  for  those  who  had  failed  drew  to  his  feet  a  woman  of 
the  town.  The  personal  atmosphere  of  moral  recovery  which 
he  bore  with  him  drew  all  manner  of  need  within  its  range. 

"  Behold  a  woman  in  the  city  who  was  a  sinner"  (per- 
sonally and  professionally  "  a  sinner,"  Luke  says  in  the 
designating  word  he  chose)  "  stood  at  his  feet  weeping." 
Her  name  is  withheld,  thus  delicately  veiling  her  identity  — 
it  was  enough  that  she  was  "  a  woman  "  in  distress. 

The  woman  had  been  morally  awakened  by  some  word 
or  look  of  the  Master  and  now  she  stole  in  with  a  bottle  of 
fragrant  ointment,  purchased,  it  may  be,  alas!  for  an  un- 
holy use.  She  came  to  anoint  his  feet  as  an  act  of  grati- 
tude. The  fact  that  she  wetted  his  feet  with  her  tears 
was  no  part  of  her  plan,  but  when  she  actually  approached 
the  One  to  whom  she  owed  so  much  her  feelings  overcame 
her.  Her  tears  fell  upon  the  Master's  feet  until  vexed 
with  herself  at  this  display  of  emotion  she  brushed  them 
away  with  her  hair. 

Then  the  haughty  Pharisee  thought  and  felt  and  looked 
and  all  but  said  —  "  This  man  if  he  were  a  prophet  would 
have  known  what  manner  of  woman  this  is  that  toucheth 
him,  for  she  is  a  sinner."  This  uncharitable  attitude 
called  out  the  Master's  parable  of  the  two  debtors,  one 
to  whom  much  was  forgiven  and  the  other  but  little,  with 
the  varying  results  in  the  measure  of  appreciation  shown. 
And  then  he  made  a  telling  application  of  the  principles 
involved  to  the  moral  situation  immediately  at  hand. 

Luke  more  than  any  other  of  the  Gospel  writers  was  a 
lover  of  the  bold  contrast,   the  striking  antithesis,   in  the 


194  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

portrayal  of  some  mighty  truth.  He  loved  to  hang  two 
pictures  on  his  wall,  which  by  their  contrasting  lights  and 
shades  would  bring  out  in  effective  fashion  the  lesson  he 
would  teach. 

In  this  narrative  we  find  the  companion  portraits  of  the 
haughty  Simon  and  the  penitent  woman.  "  I  entered  into 
thy  house"  with  all  the  claims  of  an  invited  guest  —  the 
woman  came  in  from  the  street!  "  Thou  gavest  me  no 
water  "  —  "she  hath  washed  my  feet  with  her  tears.''  "Thou 
gavest  me  no  kiss  "  upon  the  cheek  after  the  manner  of  the 
East — "she  hath  kissed  my  feet.''  "My  head  with  oil," 
the  cheap,  common  olive  oil  is  indicated  by  the  word  em- 
ployed—  "thou  didst  not  anoint"  —  "she  hath  anointed 
my  feet  "  with  costly  and  fragrant  "  ointment." 

How  the  words  stand  out  in  bold  relief,  each  one  making 
clearer  the  full  implications  of  its  fellow!  House  —  street! 
Water  —  tears!  Head  —  feet!  Oil  —  ointment!  It  was 
left  to  this  woman  of  the  town,  scorned  by  the  respecta- 
ble Pharisee,  to  enter  unbidden  and  to  supply  the  lack 
left  by  his  rudeness.  She  did  the  honors  of  his  house  to 
his  own  invited  guest.  She  gave  of  her  best  to  the  One 
who  had  opened  for  her  the  door  of  hope. 

A  great  sinner  and  a  great  Saviour!  And  as  a  conse- 
quence of  the  relation  into  which  human  need  and  divine 
help  were  here  brought,  a  great  gratitude!  This  gratitude 
found  such  beautiful  expression  as  to  make  this  passage 
a  classic  of  penitent  devotion. 

"  The  publicans  and  harlots  go  into  the  Kingdom  of  God 
before  you."  It  was  no  wild  threat  or  empty  boast  as  to 
the  possible  efficacy  of  that  redemption  which  he  was  to 
accomplish.  Here  in  actual  life  his  word  was  fulfilled  before 
their  eyes.  The  publicans  and  harlots  enter  the  Kingdom 
not  in  their  vileness  but  forgiven  and  renewed.  The  sense 
of    utter   helplessness    impelling    them    to    cast    themselves 


HIS   METHOD  195 

unreservedly  upon  the  divine  mercy  makes  the  way  of 
spiritual  advance  plain  before  their  feet  and  they  enter 
ahead  of  those  whose  respectability  obscures  recognition 
of  their  own  spiritual  lack. 

There  are  three  ways  of  viewing  evil.  There  is  first  of 
all  the  hard  way,  the  wooden  way.  The  followers  of  this 
method  see  nothing  but  the  law^  of  righteousness  and  the 
act  of  disobedience.  They  make  no  allov/ance  for  human 
weakness,  for  long-continued  temptation,  for  mitigating 
circumstance.  They  are  commonly  people  who  have  never 
sinned  (as  they  think),  never  wavered,  never  doubted, 
never  feared,  never  loved,  never  lived.  There  is  no  hope 
nor  help  for  those  who  have  done  wrong,  with  such  as  these. 

In  the  second  place,  there  is  the  lax  way  of  viewing  evil. 
There  are  people  who  show  an  indiscriminate  leniency. 
"It  all  comes  in  the  day's  work,"  they  say,  *'  the  good 
and  the  bad,  and  it  is  all  pretty  much  alike."  Evil  is  not 
so  very  bad  —  it  is  only  good  in  the  making,  one  of  the 
"  growing  pains  "  of  character.  "  The  drunkard  reeling 
down  Holborn  is  nevertheless  engaged  in  a  mistaken  quest 
for  God,"  as  one  famous  exponent  of  this  roomy  doctrine 
had  it.  The  friends  of  moral  concession  mix  their  colors 
until  there  is  neither  black  nor  white  —  only  gray.  And 
there  is  no  hope  nor  help  for  the  guilty  in  this  mush  of 
concession  and  sentimentality. 

There  is  the  third  view  of  those  men  and  women  who 
never  forget  that  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong 
is  as  wide  as  the  space  between  heaven  and  hell.  The 
difference  between  a  good  man  and  a  bad  man  is  like  the 
difference  between  a  sheep  and  a  goat  —  the  goat  is  a 
different  sort  of  animal  altogether.  They  would  never  think 
of  suggesting  that  there  was  not  much  to  choose  between 
Mary,  the  mother  of  Christ,  and  this  woman  of  the  street 
in  Simon's  house. 


196  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

But  they  have  also  a  kind  of  spiritual  clairvoyance  for 
something  in  each  life  better  than  its  immediate  showing. 
And  this  ability  to  see  and  to  summon  forth  that  better 
self  gives  them  their  power  to  save.  His  recognition  of  the 
capacity  for  holiness  in  every  life  gave  Christ  a  wondrous 
power  of  securing  some  initiative  on  the  part  of  the  life  he 
would  redeem,  and  when  that  awakened  effort  was  allied 
with  his  own  mighty  grace  victory  was  sure. 

"  Her  sins  which  are  many  are  forgiven  for  she  loved 
much."  Her  sins  were  not  forgiven  because  she  loved 
much  —  they  were  forgiven  because  she  forsook  them  and 
confided  in  the  divine  mercy.  Then  "  she  loved  much  " 
because  of  the  forgiveness  experienced. 

What  a  mighty  testimony  to  the  redemptive  power  of 
the  Son  of  God  is  this  straightforward  narrative!  The 
well-nigh  hopeless  condition  of  these  unfortunate  and  guilty 
women  baffles  the  love  and  skill  of  modern  effort,  and  the 
Master's  success  testifies  to  the  greatness  of  his  power. 
He  said  as  one  having  the  authority  which  is  grounded  in 
achievement,  "Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee  —  go  into  peace." 
He  would  have  this  newly  awakened  soul  embark  on  an 
endless  voyage  into  the  deeper  and  ever  deeper  peace  and 
joy  of  acceptance  with  God. 


XXXIII 
JUDGMENT  AND  MERCY 

Matt.  11  :  20-30 

Behold,  then,  the  goodness  and  the  severity  of  the 
Master!  Here  are  words  of  warning  which  bite  and  sting! 
"  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida!  "  If  the 
mighty  works  done  in  thee  had  been  done  in  Tyre  and 
Sidon  they  would  have  repented  long  ago.  It  shall  be  more 
tolerable  in  the  day  of  judgment  for  Sodom  than  for  thee. 
Here  are  Vv^ords  of  tender  sympathy  and  gracious  invitation. 
"  Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden 
.  .  .  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls."  The  same 
affectionate  interest  now  warns  and  now  invites. 

The  cities  of  Galilee  here  named  enjoyed  high  privileges. 
They  saw  the  lame  walk  and  the  blind  receive  their  sight. 
They  saw  the  poor  receive  the  good  news  and  the  hearts 
of  men  renewed  by  that  message  of  grace  which  had  come 
to  their  world.  And  they  were  to  be  judged  in  the  light 
of  the  privileges  they  enjoyed.  When  communities  or 
individuals  walk  at  high  noon,  with  the  sun  shining  upon 
them  in  its  full  strength,  their  conduct  is  not  to  be  measured 
by  such  a  rule  as  might  justly  be  applied  to  the  showing  made 
by  Tyre  and  Sidon  in  the  moral  twilight  they  knew. 

The  people  who  live  in  glass  houses  or  in  a  glass  world 
where  the  light  of  heaven  streams  in  must  accept  the  full 
responsibility  which  goes  with  high  privilege.  If  they  fail 
to  respond,  they  are  strictly  judged  —  they  are  automat- 
ically judged.  The  light  and  warmth  v/hich  make  the 
fields  green  under  right  conditions  parch  them  to  dust  when 

197 


198  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

conditions  are  wrong.  The  influences  which  soften  and 
refine  the  heart  harden  it  when  resisted. 

It  is  for  every  city  and  for  every  citizen  to  know  the 
day  of  his  visitation.  "  Mighty  works  "  are  being  wrought 
today  by  prayer,  by  the  quiet  devotion  of  faithful  Hves, 
by  churches  genuinely  set  upon  the  spiritual  renewal  of  the 
common  life.  The  results  achieved  are  not  blazoned  abroad 
in  headlines  and  red  ink  as  are  the  incidents  of  scandal  and 
crime.  But  they  are  not  done  in  a  corner.  The  man  who 
has  eyes  can  see.  The  man  who  has  ears  can  hear.  And  it 
is  the  business  of  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida,  of  New  York 
and  San  Francisco,  of  all  the  cities  of  Galilee  and  of  all 
the  cities  of  America,  to  know  these  "  mighty  works." 
If  we  fail  in  our  response,  it  may  be  more  tolerable  for 
Sodom  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for  us. 

It  has  been  said  by  one  careful  observer  of  our  American 
life,  "  The  criticism  of  the  next  generation  upon  this  will 
be,  '  How  plainly  they  saw  their  problems,  how  ineffective 
they  were  in  solving  them.'  "  If  there  be  no  honest 
effort  to  translate  visions  into  deeds,  it  were  better  not  to 
have  seen  the  visions.  Seeing  which  is  not  followed  by 
doing  becomes  a  kind  of  mental  and  spiritual  dissipation, 
not  one  whit  more  honorable  than  physical  dissipation 
by  the  use  of  stimulants  or  opiates.  The  great  truth  yields 
its  full  value  only  as  we  undertake  to  express  it  in  terms  of 
life.  "If  ye  know  these  things,  happy  are  ye  if  ye  do 
them."  If  mighty  works  of  spiritual  achievement  are  avail- 
able for  our  inspiration,  and  we  pass  by  in  thoughtless, 
careless  indifference,  then  woe  unto  us. 

Here  between  the  warning  and  the  invitation  is  inter- 
jected one  of  those  brief  prayers  which  fell  ever  and  anon 
from  the  lips  of  Christ.  There  are  only  three  sentences  of 
it  —  it  is  quite  unlike  what  is  called  sometimes  with  painful 
and  discrediting  accuracy   "  the  long   prayer  "   at  morning 


HIS   METHOD  199 

service  —  but  it  touches  the  deeper  levels  of  spiritual  ex- 
perience and  sweeps  a  wide  horizon  of  religious  outlook. 

''Hid  from  the  wise  and  prudent  —  revealed  to  child- 
like and  uncalculating  souls!  "  There  may  be  an  intellec- 
tual thoroughness  standing  detached  from  other  honored 
faculties  of  perception  which  misses  the  deeper  truths  of 
life.  There  may  be  a  prudent  estimating  of  life's  values 
with  all  the  painstaking  exactitude  of  the  multiplication 
table  which  nevertheless  results  in  a  sorry  and  m^isleading 
evaluation. 

Then  comes  that  tremendous  sentence  bearing  upon  the 
person  of  our  Lord:  "All  things  are  delivered  unto  me  of 
my  Father  and  no  man  knoweth  the  Son  but  the  Father; 
neither  knoweth  any  man  the  Father  save  the  Son  and  he 
to  whomsoever  the  Son  will  reveal  him."  The  deep  signifi- 
cance of  this  verse,  which  stands  also  in  the  same  connec- 
tion in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Luke,  is  clearly  recognized  by 
Biblical  scholars.  The  International  Critical  Commentary 
has  this  to  say  of  it:  "  It  is  impossible  upon  any  principles 
of  criticism  to  question  its  genuineness  or  its  right  to  be 
regarded  as  among  the  earliest  materials  made  use  of  by  the 
evangelists.  And  it  contains  the  whole  of  the  Christology 
of  the  Fourth  Gospel.  It  is  like  *  an  aerolite  from  the 
Johannean  heaven,'  and  for  that  very  reason  causes  perplex- 
ity to  those  who  deny  the  solidarity  between  the  Johannean 
heaven  and  the  Synoptic  earth." 

And  Professor  Sanday  of  Oxford  says,  further:  "This 
passage  is  one  of  the  best  authenticated  in  the  Synoptic 
Gospels.  Yet  once  grant  the  authenticity  of  this  passage 
and  there  is  nothing  in  the  Johannean  Christology  that  it 
does  not  cover."  In  the  face  of  the  tendency  to  drift 
into  a  lower  conception  of  the  person  of  Christ  it  is  well  to 
ponder  these  facts. 

When  we  see  those  gracious  words,  "  Come  unto  me  all 


200  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,"  on  the  printed  page  or 
hear  them  read  from  the  pulpit,  we  can  scarcely  separate 
them  from  the  noble  strains  of  music  to  which  they  are  set 
in  Handel's  "  Messiah."  How  many  hearts  have  been  helped 
in  their  weary  quest  when  that  message  has  been  borne  out 
to  a  listening  congregation  upon  the  voice  of  a  clear,  pure 
soprano! 

When  Jesus  says,  "  Come  unto  me,"  he  invites  the 
movement  of  the  personal  life  toward  that  which  is  central, 
fundamental,  vital.  He  has  the  right  to  say  "  Come." 
When  we  take  the  essential  qualities  of  his  life  and  esteem 
them  divine,  lifting  them  to  the  supreme  place  in  our 
thought,  we  are  not  misled.  He  is  competent  to  stand  at 
the  center  of  the  whole  movement  for  spiritual  advance. 
When  we  have  seen  him,  we  have  seen  the  Father. 

It  is  the  call  of  the  laboratory  method.  The  scientific 
man  does  not  stand  outside  the  door,  developing  from  his 
own  inner  consciousness  or  from  the  hearsay  of  the  street 
a  priori  theories  as  to  how  certain  chemicals  should  react. 
He  goes  straight  into  the  laboratory  and  makes  the  experi- 
ment for  himself  that  he  may  speak  with  the  authority  of 
first-hand  knowledge. 

The  man  who  is  truly  scientific  in  his  religious  method 
does  not  view  the  subject  from  across  the  street  or  from 
the  seat  of  the  scornful  or  from  the  rear  pew  in  some  dimly 
lighted  building.  He  accepts  the  invitation  and  enters  the 
spiritual  laboratory.  He  takes  the  materials  of  religious 
experience  into  his  own  hands  and  into  his  own  heart  that 
he  may  know  v/hat  religion  may  mean  to  the  inner  life. 
"  Come  unto  me  .  .  .  and  learn  of  me."  This  is  the  only 
way  we  can  learn.  The  way  to  learn  is  to  do.  The  child 
learns  to  walk  by  walking  with  many  a  faulty  step  and 
tumble.  He  learns  to  speak  by  speaking  with  much  bad 
syntax  and  awkward  rhetoric  at  the  start.     And  men  learn 


HIS   METHOD  201 

to    know    spiritual    realities    by    making    them    matters    of 
personal  experience. 

"  Com.e  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden 
and  I  will  give  you  rest."  The  "  rest  "  named  here  was 
no  idle  surcease  from  toil  —  the  word  "yoke"  is  uttered 
in  the  same  breath.  Rest  does  not  mean  death.  It  means 
rather  the  renewal  of  power,  the  invigoration  of  all  the 
energies  of  life  for  further  and  more  effective  effort.  If 
any  life,  weary  and  heavy  laden,  feels  that  the  will  has 
gone  lame,  that  the  conscience  is  dulled,  that  the  moral 
vigor  is  unequal  to  the  demands  made  upon  it,  let  it  come 
unto  him  that  in  personal  fellowship  it  may  find  renewing 
and  invigorating  rest.  In  fellowship  with  Christ  there  is 
developed  the  sense  of  poise,  of  balance,  of  moral  ade- 
quacy to  one's  tasks. 

"  Take  my  yoke  upon  you  and  learn."  Wisdom  comes 
not  solely  nor  mainly  through  reflection  —  it  comes  most  of 
all  through  action.  The  yoke  is  made  for  two  necks  and 
for  only  two.  When  we  are  yoked  up  and  yoked  in  with 
the  Master  we  learn  the  deeper  lessons  of  life  by  the  very 
intimacy  of  our  fellowship  with  him  through  the  sharing  of 
a  common  service. 

"  Take  my  yoke  .  .  .  and  ye  shall  find  rest."  The 
coupling  of  such  terms  as  "  yoke "  and  "  rest "  seems 
paradoxical.  But  the  secret  of  Jesus  is  conveyed  again 
and  again  in  those  paradoxes  which  startle  and  then  repel 
and  then,  studied  more  deeply,  yield  the  true  philosophy 
of  life.  The  man  who  "  loses  "  his  life  in  the  way  Christ 
indicated  does  for  the  first  time  in  his  history  really 
"  find  "it.  If  any  man  would  be  truly  tall  he  must  learn 
to  stoop;  if  he  would  be  great  he  must  serve.  "  His 
service  is  perfect  freedom  "  and  there  is  no  other  liberty 
worth  the  name.  Take  his  "  yoke  "  upon  you  and  you  will 
find  "  rest  "  for  your  soul. 


202  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

How  much  nobler  and  how  much  truer  to  the  facts  is 
this  method  than  that  proposed  by  the  wearied  singer  of 
the  ancient  psalm:  "Oh,  that  I  had  wings  like  a  dove, 
for  then  would  I  fly  away  and  be  at  rest."  He  saw  the 
pain  and  the  evil,  the  struggle  and  the  sorrow  of  the  world, 
and  it  wearied  him.  He  wanted  to  escape.  He  prayed 
the  prayer  of  the  quitter  and  sought  his  rest  in  flight. 

The  Master  saw  the  same  world  full  of  pain  and  evil, 
full  of  struggle  and  sorrow.  He  saw  the  sad  lot  of  the 
weary  and  the  heavy  laden.  He  did  not  pray  for  wings 
that  he  might  fly  away.  He  did  not  pray  that  his  fol- 
lowers should  be  taken  out  of  the  world,  but  that  they 
should  be  kept.  He  knew  that  nothing  is  ever  gained 
by  cowardly  retreat.  We  must  have  it  out  with  these 
temptations  and  obligations  right  here.  He  therefore  bade 
men  enter  into  personal  fellowship  with  him  that  they 
might  come  off  more  than  conquerors. 


XXXIV 
THE  BLIND  RECEIVE  THEIR  SIGHT 

Mark  10  :  46-52 

In  one  of  the  great  Messianic  passages  of  Isaiah  the 
hope  of  Israel  was  thus  declared.  "  Behold  my  servant  in 
whom  my  soul  dellghteth  —  I  have  put  my  spirit  upon 
him.  He  shall  not  cry  nor  cause  his  voice  to  be  heard  in 
the  street.  A  bruised  reed  he  shall  not  break  nor  quench 
the  smoking  flax.  He  shall  not  fail  nor  be  discouraged 
until  he  shall  have  set  justice  in  the  earth."  And  then  as 
the  very  climax  of  his  beneficent  ministry  to  human  need 
he  would  "  open  the  blind  eyes  and  bring  prisoners  out 
from  the  prison  and  them  that  sit  in  darkness  out  of  the 
prison  house."  Here  at  Jericho  that  word  was  fulfilled  in 
the  presence  of  a  multitude! 

"  They  came  to  Jericho  and  as  Jesus  went  out  with  his 
disciples  and  a  great  multitude,  a  blind  beggar  was  sitting 
by  the  wayside."  He  was  blind  and  he  was  poor.  He  sat 
in  darkness  and  waited  in  sore  want.  His  case  was  most 
pitiable,  for  he  seemed  to  be  entirely  cut  off  from  the 
brightness  and  the  gladness  of  the  common  life. 

The  very  approach  of  Christ  seemed  to  call  out  need. 
When  he  sat  at  Simon's  house,  the  woman  whose  sins  were 
many,  whose  need  of  forgiveness  was  great,  was  drawn  to 
his  feet  in  penitence.  When  he  edged  his  way  through  a 
crowded  street,  robed  in  helpfulness,  the  very  hem  of  his 
garment  invited  the  suffering  woman's  touch  of  faith.  When 
it  was  noised  about  that  he  was  in  a  certain  house  straight- 
way   "  all    the  city    was  gathered    together  at    the  door," 

203 


204  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

bringing  many  that  were  sick  with  divers  diseases.  He 
came  to  heal  the  sick  and  to  save  the  sinful  —  and  his 
very  presence  was  in  itself  an  ''  effectual  calling." 

Here  on  the  Jericho  road  he  elicited  the  appeal  of  this 
blind  beggar  whose  name  was  Bartimaeus!  "  When  he 
heard  that  it  was  Jesus  of  Nazareth  he  began  to  cry  out, 
Jesus,  Son  of  David,  have  mercy  on  me."  Here  was  One 
who  had  opened  his  ministry  with  that  broad  proclamation 
of  merciful  intent  upon  his  lips —  "  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
is  upon  me  because  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  good 
tidings  to  the  poor;  he  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken- 
hearted, to  preach  deliverance  to  the  captives  and  the 
recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind."  Some  faint  echo  of  that 
gracious  ministry  had  penetrated  the  dark  world  where  this 
sightless  beggar  lived  his  desolate  life. 

The  Master  was  being  received  with  much  acclaim. 
He  was  moving  with  his  disciples  before  the  multitude  in  a 
kind  of  triumphal  procession  toward  Jerusalem.  The  by- 
standers regarded  it  as  preposterous  that  a  blind  beggar 
should  in  this  unseemly  manner  obtrude  his  afflictions 
upon  the  notice  of  one  who  stood  thus  in  the  public  eye. 
"  Many  charged  him  that  he  should  hold  his  peace." 
Bartimaeus  was  not  the  only  blind  man  on  the  Jericho 
road  —  how  blind  were  those  bystanders  as  to  the  real 
object  of  the  Master's  concern. 

The  more  they  charged  the  beggar  to  hold  his  peace,  the 
more  he  cried  out.  The  effort  to  repress  the  sense  of  need, 
like  the  effort  to  compress  steam,  only  serves  to  reveal  its 
full  strength.  "  He  cried  the  more  a  great  deal."  Here 
was  the  rashness,  the  insistence,  the  sheer  impudence  of 
faith  born  of  a  desperate  sense  of  need.  The  faith  that  will 
not  take  "  No  "  for  an  answer  is  in  line  for  a  gracious 
"  Yes."  "  Because  of  his  importunity  he  will  rise  and 
give,"    not    because    God    waits   to    have   reluctance    mas- 


HIS   METHOD  205 

tered  by  importunity,  but  because  the  importunity  reveals 
a  quality  of  soul  com.petent  to  receive  a  great  answer  to 
its  appeal. 

"  Jesus  stood  still  and  commanded  him  to  be  called. 
And  they  call  the  blind  man,  saying.  Be  of  good  comfort  — 
he  calleth  thee."  And  in  that  instant  there  was  begotten 
in  the  soul  of  that  blind  beggar  a  firm  assurance  of  coming 
help.  "  He  calleth  thee."  The  Lord  was  taking  the  ini- 
tiative. That  fact  in  itself  furnished  an  ample  ground  of 
reassurance.  "  Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have  chosen 
you."  The  ultimate  responsibility  is  with  him  who  is  on 
High  and  not  with  us. 

Then  in  further  token  of  his  eager,  expectant  faith,  the 
blind  beggar  "  casting  away  his  garment  rose  and  came  to 
Jesus."  These  simple  but  significant  actions  on  the  part 
of  the  man  who  was  both  blind  and  poor  all  indicate  what 
manner  of  man  he  was. 

It  was  for  that  blind  man  the  one  chance  of  a  lifetime 
and  he  could  not  let  it  pass.  He  had  heard  of  this  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  as  one  who  ministered  to  human  need  with 
such  effectiveness  that  men  went  away  saying,  "  We  never 
saw  it  on  this  fashion."  He  may  have  heard  a  rumor  that 
when  credentials  of  Messiahship  were  called  for,  Jesus 
answered,  "  The  blind  receive  their  sight,  the  lame  walk, 
the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead  are  raised 
up  and  the  poor  have  good  tidings  preached  to  them." 
In  the  face  of  the  possibilities  which  were  there  within 
reach  of  his  pathetic  appeal,  the  blind  man  showed  all  the 
energy  and  desperation  of  genuine  faith. 

How  much  depends  upon  the  recognition  and  the  utiliza- 
tion of  an  opportunity!  Two  young  men  are  sent  to  col- 
lege —  they  are  both  exposed  to  an  education.  One  of 
them  gets  it,  while  the  other  through  his  own  neglect  re- 
mains immune.     As  George  Ade  has  it,  "  You  can  lead  a 


206  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

boy  to  college,  but  you  can't  make  him  think."  Two  men 
go  up  to  the  Temple  to  pray.  One  of  them  by  using  his 
opportunity  goes  away  with  his  heart  full  of  blessings  while 
the  other  man's  heart  is  as  empty  as  it  came.  There 
may  have  been  forty  other  blind  men  that  day  in  Jericho; 
they  also  may  have  heard  that  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was 
passing  by,"  but  they  were  left  in  darkness.  They  did 
not  know  the  day  of  their  visitation  nor  the  line  of  effort 
which  belonged  to  their  peace. 

The  street  is  a  noisy  place,  especially  with  "  a  great  multi- 
tude "  thronging  it.  But  above  the  distraction  Jesus  heard 
the  heartfelt  appeal  of  human  need.  He  stopped  and  com- 
manded that  the  man  who  made  the  appeal  should  be 
brought  to  him.  And  when  the  blind  beggar  stood  before 
him  he  said,  "  What  wilt  thou  that  I  should  do?  "  The 
blind  man  was  ready  with  his  reply.  His  faith  and  per- 
sistence were  attended  by  an  equal  measure  of  directness. 
"  Lord,  that  I  might  receive  my  sight." 

"Jesus  said  to  him.  Receive  thy  sight;  thy  faith  hath 
saved  thee."  And  immediately  he  received  his  sight  and 
followed  Jesus  in  the  way.  He  asked  and  he  received. 
He  sought  and  he  found.  He  knocked  and  the  door  was 
opened  unto  him.     He  was  blind  —  now  he  saw. 

We  may  take  the  incident  as  a  symbol  of  the  whole 
healing,  redemptive  ministry  of  Christ.  He  came  to  take 
the  faculties  which  lie  clouded  and  inert  and  make  them 
fulfill  the  high  function  for  which  they  were  designed. 
He  came  to  open  men's  eyes,  causing  them  to  see.  He 
opened  the  eyes  in  this  man's  head  so  that  the  Jordan 
Valley  and  the  hills  of  Moab,  the  waving  green  of  the 
pleasant  fields  and  the  soft  azure  of  the  sky  above,  the 
forms  of  his  fellow-beings  and  the  benign  face  of  the  One 
who  had  wrought  the  change  in  him,  all  swept  into  view. 

He  opens  the  eyes  of  men's  minds.     When  the  mind  is 


HIS   METHOD  207 

closed  against  the  eternal  spiritual  verities,  when  the  facul- 
ties of  perception  hold  no  vision  of  God  and  duty,  of  the 
efficacy  of  prayer  and  the  potency  of  redemption,  the 
quickening  touch  of  the  Master's  Spirit  widens  the  outlook 
of  that  beclouded  mind.  A  whole  universe  of  truth  sweeps 
into  view  where  before  there  was  vacancy. 

He  opens  the  eyes  of  the  heart  through  awakened  and 
widened  sympathies.  How  much  of  good  there  is  in  all 
these  plain,  unpretentious  lives  about  us  when  once  we 
have  eyes  to  see  and  ears  to  hear  and  souls  to  understand! 
The  social  sympathies  behold  wondrous  things  in  the 
passing  crowd.  The  eye  of  friendliness  ranges  freely  over 
wide  areas  of  interest  and  attraction  where  the  cold  heart 
of  indifference  beholds  nothing  but  a  fresh  occasion  for 
being  bored. 

He  opens  the  eyes  of  the  soul.  The  pure  in  heart  see 
God,  not  because  they  enjoy  the  vantage  ground  of  a  better 
location  in  the  spiritual  universe  —  they  see  God  because 
they  have  something  to  see  him  with.  The  heart  made 
pure  becomes  the  organ  of  a  beatific  vision.  "  As  for  me, 
I  will  behold  thy  face  in  righteousness;  I  shall  be  satisfied 
when  I  awake  with  thy  likeness." 

He  comes  to  Jericho  and  to  Jersey  City  and  to  all  the 
towns  of  earth  that  men  may  have  life  all  the  way  up  and 
all  the  way  in  and  all  the  way  through.  He  comes  that 
every  faculty  lying  inert  and  in  danger  of  atrophy  may  be 
quickened  into  effective  action.  He  comes  that  all  may 
enter  upon  that  fulness  of  life  which  is  life  indeed. 

When  this  blind  man  received  sight  he  "  immediately 
followed  Jesus  in  the  way."  He  would  make  the  first 
employ  given  to  that  restored  power  of  sight  the  high  task 
of  declaring  his  allegiance  by  following  "  in  his  steps." 
It  may  be  as  one  legend  has  it  that  Bartimaeus  became 
^  noted,  devoted  disciple  of  the  Lord,  and  for  this  reason 


208  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

the  narrative  of  his  restoration   is   thus   fully  recorded   in 
all  the  synoptic  Gospels. 

How  far  will  a  similarly  bold  and  persistent  faith  go 
today  in  the  healing  of  our  physical  and  spiritual  hurts? 
No  one  knows  until  he  has  put  it  to  the  test.  The  Lord's 
arm  of  mercy  is  not  shortened  that  it  cannot  heal  with  the 
swiftest  efficacy.  It  has  seemed  to  many  that  we  are  now 
scratching  the  surface  of  great  depths  of  helpfulness  which 
await  the  approach  of  vital  faith  as  we  learn  anew  how  to 
utilize  directly  mental  and  spiritual  forces  in  the  gaining 
and  maintenance  of  that  fulness  of  life  which  is  the  object 
of  a  universal  quest. 


XXXV 

THE   LIFE   OF   SERVICE 

Luke  8  :  U3;   9  :  57-62;   10  :  38-42 

We  have  here  three  snapshots  taken  of  the  Master's 
movements.  They  all  throw  light  upon  the  mode  of  life 
to  which  his  followers  are  called.  "  He  went  about  ['  city 
by  city,  village  by  village,'  the  Greek  has  it,  as  indicating 
a  systematic  tour  of  evangelization]  preaching  good  tidings 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

The  prominence  of  devoted  women  in  the  Christian 
movement  is  remarked.  "  And  certain  women  who  had 
been  healed  of  evil  spirits  and  infirmities  ministered  unto 
them  of  their  substance."  Three  women  are  named,  Mary 
Magdalen,  Joanna  and  Susanna,  and  there  were  "  many 
others."  We  must  not  confound  this  Mary  with  the 
"  Magdalen  "  as  that  term  is  now  used  —  Mary  was  a 
common  name  then  as  now  and  the  distinctive  reference  is 
geographical.  "  Such  an  affliction  as  virulent  demoniacal 
possession  ['  from  whom  seven  devils  had  gone  out '] 
would  be  incompatible  with  the  miserable  trade  of  prostitu- 
tion. The  woman  who  was  '  a  sinner,'  Mary  of  Magdala 
and  Mary  of  Bethany  are  three  distinct  persons." 

During  this  tour  of  evangelization  three  aspirants  for 
discipleship  came.  The  incidents  may  not  have  occurred 
in  immediate  succession  —  the  grouping  may  have  been 
made  because  of  the  similarity  of  the  incidents.  The 
first  man  said  in  a  brisk,  confident  way.  "  I  will  follow 
thee  whithersoever  thou  goest."  This  sounded  well  — 
as  well    as  Peter's  confident  word,   "  Though  I  should    die 

209 


210  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

with  thee  yet  will  I  not  deny  thee,"  which  fell  to  the 
ground  before  cockcrow  as  an  idle  boast.  Jesus  made  it 
plain  that  we  cannot  rely  upon  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
moment  as  upon  that  carefully  considered  consecration 
which  counts  the  cost  in  advance. 

He  indicated  to  this  ready  enthusiast  that  the  life  of 
service  would  be  arduous.  He  would  not  deceive  men  at  the 
start  by  any  illusions  — he  would  have  them  know  exactly 
what  they  were  in  for.  "  The  foxes  have  holes  and  the 
birds  of  the  air  have  nests  [literally  *  roosts/  for  the  birds 
have  nests  for  only  a  brief  period  in  each  year],  but  the 
Son  of  Man  has  not  where  to  lay  his  head." 

The  Master  of  men  lived  in  a  rough  world  while  he  was 
with  us  —  he  was  a  pilgrim  and  a  sojourner.  He  was  born 
in  the  manger  of  a  stable.  He  was  reared  amid  the  rude 
surroundings  of  a  carpenter's  home  in  Nazareth.  During 
his  public  ministry  he  was  apparently  without  settled 
residence.  He  accepted  hospitality  when  it  was  offered, 
sometimes  by  the  rich,  like  Zaccheus,  sometimes  by  the 
fairly  well-to-do,  like  Mary  and  Martha,  sometimes  by 
those  as  poor  as  himself.  When  nothing  better  offered  he 
slept  in  the  open  and  ate  the  raw  wheat  which  his  disciples 
plucked  in  the  fields.  And  when  he  came  to  die  he  did  not 
die  in  a  bed  —  he  died  on  a  cross  and  his  body  was  laid 
in  a  borrowed  tomb.  His  august  life  seemed  to  lack  any 
suitable  habitation. 

He  would  have  this  eager  enthusiast  understand  all 
this  —  the  summons  of  Christ  was  a  summons  to  sacrifice. 
In  Matthew's  Gospel  we  are  told  further  that  the  man  was 
"  a  scribe,"  one  accustomed  to  the  comforts  of  settled 
residence  and  regular  employ.  The  call  to  the  wandering, 
precarious,  self-denying  life  which  Jesus  here  indicated  in 
brief  but  telling  phrase  apparently  deterred  him  and  he 
turned  back  to  follow  no  more  with  them. 


HIS   METHOD  211 

The  second  aspirant  was  ready  to  "  follow,"  but  he  asked 
for  leave  of  absence  that  he  might  first  go  and  bury  his 
father.  The  request  seems  reasonable,  and  the  apparent 
harshness  of  Jesus'  refusal  has  been  a  stumblingblock  to 
many.  The  Chinese,  with  their  strong  blend  of  filial  rever- 
ence and  of  scrupulous  regard  for  the  performance  of  suita- 
ble rites  for  the  dead,  regard  this  as  a  highly  immoral 
passage.  It  is  a  "  hard  saying "  and  it  has  to  be 
translated  several  times  before  the  newly  awakened  Chinese 
convert  can  receive  it. 

We  are  to  remember  that  it  was  the  custom  of  Jesus  to 
announce  principles  of  action  in  bold  paradoxes,  that  they 
might  attract  attention  and  be  remembered.  These  are  to 
be  interpreted  according  to  the  spirit  of  them  rather  than 
pressed  on  all  fours  in  literal  fashion.  "  Let  the  dead  bury 
their  dead  "  —  let  those  who  have  never  felt  the  call  to  a 
more  vital  form  of  service  attend  to  those  services  of 
ceremony  which  regard  for  custom  prescribes.  The  Master 
would  say  that  attention  to  those  amenities  of  private  life 
here  indicated  must  yield  supremacy  and  become  subordi- 
nate to  the  demands  of  spiritual  service. 

We  are  to  remember  also  the  elaborate  and  long-drawn- 
out  ceremonies  implied  in  "  burying  one's  father,"  accord- 
ing to  Oriental  usage.  When  the  father  of  one  of  Li  Hung 
Chang's  ministers  died  this  public  servant  asked  leave  of 
absence  for  four  months  that  he  might  attend  the  funeral 
of  his  father.  He  knew  that  some  such  period  of  time 
would  be  required  for  the  complete  fulfilment  of  the  de- 
mands of  Oriental  etiquette  in  the  matter  of  funeral  ob- 
servance. Bearing  in  mind  the  method  of  Jesus  in  stating 
principles  in  bold  paradoxes  and  the  extended  funeral  cus- 
toms of  the  East,  the  harshness  of  his  saying  is  relieved. 

There  came  a  third  man,  saying,  "  I  will  follow  thee, 
Lord,  but  suffer  me  first  to  bid  farewell  to  them  that  are 


212  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

at  my  house."  His  word  indicates  that  his  heart  was  in 
the  past  rather  than  in  that  future  of  fellowship  in  service 
to  which  his  first  impulse  had  summ.oned  him.  It  is  not 
permissible  to  leave  Christ  in  order  to  attend  farewell 
dinners  with  our  friends.  The  mood  of  the  man,  more 
than  his  words,  seems  to  be  judged.  No  lukewarm  need 
apply.  "  No  man  having  put  his  hand  to  the  plow  and 
looking  back  is  fit  for  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

"  His  hand  to  the  plow!  The  Master  did  not  use  the 
figure  heedlessly,"  as  Dr.  Jowett  said:  "  Plowing  is  the 
heaviest  work  in  the  toil  of  the  field.  Sowing  the  seed  is 
a  comparatively  easy  ministry.  Reaping  is  associated  with 
warmth  and  triumph.  But  plowing  is  heavy,  laborious 
work.  It  is  concerned  with  the  disturbance  of  the  com- 
monplace, the  breaking  up  of  the  hard,  familiar  surface, 
the  exposing  of  the  hidden  depths  to  the  light  and  air, 
to  the  dews  and  rains  of  the  upper  world.  So  it  is  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God."  The  men  who  are  to  follow  him  are 
"to  be  men  of  masculine  handgrip,  of  magnificent  tenacity 
of  purpose,  who  once  they  had  begun  upon  a  field  would 
see  the  furrow  through." 

We  come,  then,  to  the  third  passage.  It  records  the 
varied  attention  which  Mary  and  Martha  gave  the  Master 
when  he  was  entertained  at  their  home.  It  may  be  that 
this  bit  is  inserted  immediately  after  the  parable  of  the 
Good  Samaritan  as  a  further  answer  to  the  question, 
"  What  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life?  "  Mere  action, 
kindly  though  it  be,  unaccompanied  by  the  sense  of  fellow- 
ship with  God,  leaves  the  life  incomplete.  "  The  enthusi- 
asm of  humanity  if  divorced  from  the  love  of  God  is  likely 
to  degenerate  into  mere  serving  of  tables."  The  habit  of 
being  troubled  with  many  things  may  become  mere  mo- 
tion, rather  than  effective  action  in  the  Master's  cause. 

"  Martha  received  him  into  her  house,   and  she  had   a 


HIS   METHOD  213 

sister  called  Mary  who  also  sat  at  the  Jesus'  feet  and  heard 
his  word."  The  ''  also  "  seems  superfluous  and  confusing, 
but  the  sentence  might  be  paraphrased  —  "  Martha  gave 
him  a  welcome  and  Mary  also  expressed  her  devotion  in 
her  own  way." 

It  was  not  a  way  which  commended  itself  to  the  older 
and  more  practical  sister.  "  Martha  was  cumbered  with 
much  serving,"  as  zealous,  over-scrupulous  housekeepers  are 
wont  to  be.  "She  came  up  to  him"  —  the  Greek  indi- 
cates an  impatient  movement  with  a  dash  of  temper  in  it, 
and  her  words  of  remonstrance  are  not  in  the  best  breed- 
ing. Her  rebuke  is  addressed  not  to  her  sister,  but  to  her 
guest,  —  "  Lord,  dost  thou  not  care  that  my  sister  has  left 
me  to  serve  alone?  " 

"  Martha,  Martha  "  —  the  very  repetition  of  her  name 
^indicates  an  affectionate,  kindly  remonstrance.  The  good 
woman,  allowing  the  spirit  of  a  generous  hospitality  to 
become  a  burden  rather  than  a  joyous  privilege,  was  anxious, 
distracted,  harassed  beyond  what  was  needful.  She  was 
too  much  concerned  "  about  many  things." 

How  applicable  is  this  word  to  the  burdensome  hospi- 
tality in  our  social  life!  "The  complexity  of  modern  life 
wears  out  the  nerves.  What  a  simple  thing  eating  is!  It 
does  not  require  much  food  to  sustain  a  body  for  twenty- 
four  hours.  A  few  simple  dishes,  served  in  a  simple  way, 
are  all  that  is  necessary  for  health  and  strength.  But  we 
love  to  elaborate.  We  have  developed  the  act  of  eating 
into  a  fine  art.  We  have  elaborated  the  dinner  table  until 
it  has  become  a  burden.  We  have  multiplied  the  knives 
and  forks,  the  spoons  and  goblets.  We  have  added  to  the 
courses,  and  each  course  must  have  its  frills  and  accom- 
paniments until  the  dinner  table  threatens  to  become  a 
menace  to  the  health  of  the  nation." 

The  sons  and  the  daughters  of  Martha  are  everywhere. 


214  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

They  can  scarcely  sleep  at  night  in  their  super-anxiety 
over  such  questions  as  "  What  shall  we  eat?  "  and  "  What 
shall  we  drink? "  and  "  What  shall  we  put  on? "  and 
"  How  will  it  look  when  we  get  it  on?  "  It  is  high  time 
that  the  still  small  voice  of  spiritual  authority  should  re- 
call them  from  that  mental  overstrain  busied  with  "  many 
things  "  which  are  not  "  needful  "  to  that  "  good  part  " 
which  is  vital. 

May  it  not  be  that  the  Church  of  Christ  also  needs  this 
word?  It  too  becomes  troubled,  distracted,  harassed  by 
its  many  societies,  its  countless  forms  of  activity,  its 
multitude  of  meetings  which  no  unrenewed  mind  can 
number.  It  finds  itself  out  of  breath,  depleted  in  spirit, 
confused  rather  than  inspired  by  its  many-wheeled  machin- 
ery. In  some  instances  it  has  lost  the  high  art  of  setting 
the  soul  in  conscious  fellowship  with  the  Master  to  choose 
and  to  achieve  that  good  part  which  cannot  be  taken  away. 


XXXVI 
THE  RANK  AND  FILE 

Luke  10  : 1-24 

The  Lord  sent  out  two  main  groups  of  disciples,  the 
first  one  numbering  twelve,  the  other  seventy.  The  names 
of  the  twelve  are  known  everywhere.  The  greatest  church 
in  the  world  is  St.  Peter's  at  Rome;  the  court  of  the  Brit- 
ish empire  is  called  the  court  of  St.  James;  and  a  multi- 
tude of  infants  that  no  man  can  number  are  named  for 
St.  John.  But  no  one  can  give  the  name  of  a  single  one 
of  the  other  seventy. 

These  last  are  the  quiet,  nameless,  untitled  and  almost 
unknown  people  whom  Christ  sends  forth.  They  are  not 
conspicuous  enough  to  get  into  history  or  even  into  the 
newspapers.  They  never  sit  on  twelve  thrones  of  Chris- 
tian usefulness  judging  the  tribes  of  Israel.  Their  names 
will  not  be  found  written  on  the  foundation  stones  of  the 
city  of  God.  Their  only  recognition  is  that  of  the  Father 
who  seeth  in  secret,  yet  the  rating  of  the  Master  ranked 
them  above  many  of  the  "  wise  and  understanding"  in  the 
significance  their  service  held  for  the  advance  of  his 
Kingdom. 

They  outnumbered  the  more  conspicuous  disciples  five 
to  one.  The  number  given  may  have  been  taken  from  the 
seventy  elders  of  Moses  or  from  the  number  in  the  San- 
hedrim. It  is  more  probable,  however,  that  in  this  Gentile 
Gospel  of  Luke  they  stood  for  the  number  of  outside 
Gentile  nations,  of  whom  the  Jews  said  there  were  just 
"  seventy."     The  mere  list  of  so  many  names  in  this  brief 

215 


216  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

record  of  the  Master's  work  would  have  required  too  much 
space,  so  the  names  are  omitted.  They  symbolize  "  that 
great  multitude  which  no  man  can  number  of  all  nations 
and  peoples,  kindreds  and  tongues,"  who  by  their  simple 
fidelity  in  causing  righteousness  to  bear  rule  upon  the  earth 
are  to  "  stand  before  the  throne  clothed  with  white  robes 
and  with  palms  in  their  hands." 

They  were  all  laymen  apparently —  "  babes  "  in  theolog- 
ical understanding,  Jesus  called  them  —  yet  by  the  genu- 
ineness of  their  devotion  they,  rather  than  "  the  wise  and 
prudent,"  were  allowed  to  share  intimately  in  the  counsel 
and  holy  activity  of  their  Lord.  Unordained,  unofficial, 
untitled  Christians  they  were,  sent  forth  to  make  the  world 
better  by  living  the  life  they  had  learned  from  him.  There 
are  no  words  of  depreciation  to  be  spoken  touching  the 
valued  service  of  great  leaders,  but  the  hope  of  the  world 
rests  at  last  upon  those  plain  people  who  make  up  the  rank 
and  file  in  the  army  of  the  Lord. 

The  work  of  those  honored  few  who  write  books,  endow 
colleges,  organize  reforms,  is  spread  before  us  in  the  news- 
papers with  headlines  and  pictures.  Their  work  has  value 
and  may  justly  receive  high  appraisal.  But  not  all  are 
apostles;  not  all  are  prophets;  not  all  are  workers  of 
miracles;  not  all  speak  with  tongues.  There  are  many 
who  walk  in  what  Paul  called  "  an  excellent  way,"  whose 
service  is  altogether  of  a  simpler  type. 

They  cannot  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of 
angels;  they  cannot  understand  all  mysteries  and  all 
knowledge;  they  cannot  exercise  faith  which  would  move 
mountains.  But  they  can  love.  They  can  suffer  long  and 
be  kind.  They  can  act  the  part  of  unselfishness  and  not 
get  puffed  up.  They  can  bear  and  believe,  hope  and  en- 
dure all  sorts  of  things  for  the  sake  of  the  cause  they  have 
at   heart.     And    in    this   quiet,    steadfast   devotion    to    the 


HIS   METHOD  217 

highest  they  see  they  are  steadily  moving  along  a  line  of 
personal  development  and  of  social  achievement  which 
"  never  faileth." 

The  other  seventy  went  forth  "  two  and  two  "  for  com- 
panionship, for  mutual  counsel  and  for  the  supplementing, 
each  by  each,  of  possible  deficiencies.  The  whole  Christian 
undertaking  is  social  rather  than  solitary  —  the  man  who 
takes  pride  in  flocking  by  himself  has  broken  with  its 
essential  spirit  and  method. 

They  went  "  as  lambs  among  wolves."  There  was  no 
show  of  sharp  teeth,  no  claws,  no  deadly  guns.  They  were 
simple,  primitive  Christians  who  had  never  been  misled 
by  the  false  note  in  "  The  White  Man's  Burden  "  nor  be- 
guiled by  the  trick  of  backing  up  the  offer  of  a  higher  life 
with  gunpowder.  They  went  as  Paul  went  into  Macedonia, 
a  troubled  region  then  and  now,  as  Livingstone  went  into 
the  heart  of  blackest  Africa,  as  John  G.  Paton  went  among 
the  cannibals  of  the  South  Sea  Islands.  They  went  as  the 
real  emissaries  of  the  Cross  go  in  every  age,  taking  their 
lives  in  their  hands,  relying  upon  instruction  and  persua- 
sion, kindness  and  moral  appeal  for  the  victories  they 
were  sent  to  win. 

The  weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal  —  they  never 
have  been  and  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case  they  never 
can  be.  The  power  of  moral  enthusiasm  and  spiritual  pas- 
sion is  destroyed  the  moment  we  take  the  sword  to  further 
the  interests  of  Him  who  said,  as  he  was  being  led  away 
to  be  crucified,  restraining  his  leading  disciple  from  further 
violence,  "  Put  up  thy  sword."  Lambs  among  wolves, 
gentleness  and  self-sacrifice  pitted  against  cruelty  and 
sharp  teeth  —  it  seemed  a  contest  unequal,  but  it  was  along 
this  line  that  Christ  achieved  his  successes. 

They  were  to  be  men  of  definite  purpose,  allowing  noth- 
ing  to   delay   or   distract    them   upon    their   high   errand. 


218  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

"  Salute  no  man  by  the  way,"  Jesus  said.  His  words 
sound  curt.  They  have  puzzled  many  a  gracious  soul. 
But  when  one  sees  the  well-nigh  endless  "  salaaming  and 
kotowing  "  which  make  up  the  full-orbed  idea  of  an  Orien- 
tal "salute"  he  appreciates  the  meaning  of  this  direction. 
The  ambassador  charged  with  affairs  of  state  does  not 
allow  himself  to  be  needlessly  hindered  by  useless  social 
customs,  eating  up  time  and  strength  to  no  purpose.  The 
other  seventy  were  to  comport  themselves  as  men  conscious 
of  their  important  mission. 

They  were  sent  as  forerunners  of  the  Christ  "  into  every 
city  and  place  whither  he  himself  would  come."  They 
could  not  speak  as  did  the  One  who  spake  as  never  man 
spake  nor  live  as  did  the  One  in  whom  neither  Pilate  nor 
all  the  ages  since  have  found  any  fault  at  all.  But  they 
could  tell  something  of  the  glad  tidings  Jesus  brought; 
they  could  show  some  measure  of  the  spirit  they  had  come 
to  share  with  him.  It  is  an  exacting  responsibility  thus  to 
become  a  representative  of  the  Christ  to  those  hearts  into 
which  he  is  purposing  to  come.  It  is  a  solemn  thought 
that  to  some  one  soul  every  Christian  will  be  the  best 
sample  of  Christian  life  that  soul  will  ever  know  in  any 
intimate  way.  In  the  propagation  of  the  Christian  life 
the  method  of  personal  contagion  was  the  uniform  method 
of  the  Master — "As  the  Father  hath  sent  me,  I  send 
you." 

This  laymen's  mission  appears  to  have  been  immensely 
successful.  The  seventy  came  back  and  reported,  "  Lord, 
the  devils  are  subject  unto  us  through  thy  name."  They 
had  won  notable  victories  over  the  forces  of  evil.  The  sick 
had  been  healed,  the  sufferers  who  were  sometimes  regarded 
as  demoniacs  were  restored  to  sanity  and  usefulness,  the 
sinful  held  by  the  tight  grip  of  evil  habit  as  in  a  vise  had 
been  released,   to  become  free  and  brave  in  the  cause  of 


HIS   METHOD  219 

righteousness.  All  this  achieved  by  those  plain  people 
who  found  the  forces  of  evil  subject  to  them  when  they  made 
their  effective  approach  in  the  name  of  Christ! 

Jesus  rejoiced  —  Hterally  "exulted,"  and  it  is  the  only 
instance  where  we  are  told  that  he  actually  "  exulted  " 
—  in  the  success  of  the  movement.  "In  that  hour  Jesus 
rejoiced  in  spirit  and  said,  I  thank  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth,  that  thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the 
wise  and  prudent  and  revealed  them  unto  babes."  He  was  a 
man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  grief,  yet  he  exulted 
over  the  moral  triumphs  of  these  plain  people. 

He  spoke  in  the  most  sanguine  terms,  what  is  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  prophetic  word  rather  than  a  cold  statement  of 
accomplished  fact,  of  the  ultim.ate  success  which  would 
crown  this  movement.  "  I  beheld  Satan  as  lightning  fall 
from  heaven."  The  ultimate  overthrow  of  the  kingdom  of 
evil  through  the  power  exerted  by  these  plain  people  satu- 
rated with  his  spirit  stood  before  his  wise  eye  as  a  sure  out- 
come. "  Kings  and  priests,"  he  said  to  the  privileged 
twelve,  "  have  desired  to  see  those  things  which  ye  see  and 
have  not  seen  them." 

Then  he  cautioned  the  successful  seventy  against  the 
unwisdom  of  exalting  the  triumph  of  an  hour  above  the 
sober  significance  of  the  fact  that  they  were  definitely 
committed  to  a  certain  mode  of  life.  "  Notwithstanding, 
in  this  rejoice  not  that  the  spirits  are  subject  unto  you  — 
rejoice  rather  that  your  names  are  written  in  heaven." 
The  sudden  rally  which  drives  back  the  enemy's  line  at  a 
single  point,  the  swift  winning  of  some  hard-fought  skir- 
mish, the  well-won  victory  in  some  one  hard-fought  battle, 
does  not  for  a  moment  rank  in  real  significance  with  the 
permanent  enrollment  of  men  and  women  as  citizens  of 
that  kingdom  which  is  an  everlasting  kingdom. 

Men   may  win   a  victory   today   and   another   tomorrow 


220  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

and  then  suffer  defeat  the  third  day.  Yet  all  the  while, 
because  their  wills  have  been  brought  into  harmony  with  the 
will  of  God,  they  may  move  ahead  in  the  serene  enjoy- 
ment of  a  celestial  recognition  —  they  may  know  that  their 
names  are  written  in  heaven.  Let  them  rejoice  mainly  in 
this!  It  is  not  the  particular  deed  of  yesterday  or  of  the 
day  before  in  the  uncertainty  of  its  immediate  effect  which 
is  of  most  significance  —  it  is  the  fundamental  purpose  of 
the  life. 

We  cannot  all  be  major-generals  or  be  numbered  with 
the  twelve  apostles,  with  churches  in  Rome  named  after 
us  and  our  names  inscribed  on  the  walls  of  the  New 
Jerusalem.  But  every  life  may  catch  the  spirit  of  Christ, 
enroll  itself  under  the  banner  of  Christ  and  by  the  useful 
service  rendered  cause  the  heart  of  Christ  to  exult  when  he 
sees  that  life  coming  up  to  give  an  account  of  the  warfare 
waged  against  the  powers  of  evil. 


XXXVII 
LIGHT  AND  DARKNESS 

Luke  11  :  14-26;  33-36 

The  Master  had  just  healed  a  mute.  The  malady  was  a 
mysterious  one  and  the  credulous,  unscientific  diagnosis  of 
that  day  attributed  his  inability  to  speak  to  "a  dumb 
spirit."  Matthew  says  that  the  man  was  also  "  blind," 
w^hich  complicated  the  trouble.  There  seemed  to  be  no 
line  of  approach  to  his  inner  consciousness,  and  the  heal- 
ing of  these  unfortunate  beings  seemed  to  the  enemies  of 
Christ  uncanny.  They  attributed  his  success  to  the  devil 
—  "He  caste th  out  devils  through  Beelzebub,  the  prince  of 
the  devils." 

They  were  almost  forced  to  such  a  conclusion  by  the 
logic  of  their  position.  "  A  rigid  monotheistic  religion 
like  the  Jewish  left  but  one  escape  from  the  authority  of 
miracles  once  acknowledged  to  be  such  and  not  mere  col- 
lusions or  sleights  of  hand.  There  remained  nothing  to 
say  but  that  which  the  adversaries  of  our  Lord  were  con- 
tinually saying,  that  these  works  were  the  works  of  the 
Evil  One." 

Jesus  does  not  so  much  censure  the  blasphemy  of  their 
contention  as  expose  the  intellectual  absurdity  of  it, 
"  Every  kingdom  divided  against  itself  is  brought  to  desola- 
tion. If  Satan  be  divided  against  himself  how  shall  his 
kingdom  stand?"  Division  means  destruction.  We  learned 
here  in  America  by  bitter  experience  that  a  nation  could 
not  continue  "  half-slave  and  half- free."  The  recognition 
of  the  rightfulness  of  slavery  must  obtain  everywhere  or  the 
principle  of  human  freedom  must  become  universal, 

221 


222  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

The  strong  man  fully  armed  guardeth  his  own  and  his  goods 
are  in  peace.  It  is  only  when  a  stronger  appears  upon  the 
scene  and  overcomes  him,  taking  away  his  armor,  that 
those  goods  can  be  divided  up  as  spoils.  It  was  manifest 
that  "  The  Stronger  "  was  there  upon  the  scene  overcoming 
the  power  of  evil  —  opening  blind  eyes,  unstopping  deaf 
ears,  loosening  the  tongues  that  were  tied  in  silence,  taking 
possession  of  life  after  life  in  the  name  of  a  fuller  and 
happier  mode  of  existence.  The  facts  could  not  be  gainsaid 
—  therefore  they  were  to  judge  whether  or  no  Satan,  the 
reputed  head  of  the  whole  kingdom  of  physical  and  moral 
evil,  had  taken  up  arms  against  himself. 

Jesus  claimed  to  do  these  mighty  works  "  by  the  finger  of 
God."  It  may  be  that  the  interpretation  of  this  phrase 
as  indicating  "  the  ease  "  with  which  it  was  done  (no  need 
being  felt  for  the  whole  "  mighty  hand  and  outstretched 
arm  "  to  accomplish  the  end)  is  fanciful.  Jesus  was  in- 
dicating in  this  telling  phrase  the  divine  agency  in  the  mat- 
ter. It  may  be  that  he  was  carrying  their  minds  back 
to  the  scene  on  the  Nile  where  Moses  confounded  the 
magic-venders  of  Pharaoh  by  works  which  caused  them  to 
say,  "  This  is  the  finger  of  God."  There  was  the  same 
opposition  between  the  power  of  Jesus  and  the  power  of 
Beelzebub  as  between  the  powers  intrusted  to  Moses  and 
the  clever  tricks  of  the  magicians. 

Then  follows  what  has  been  skillfully  termed  "  The 
Parable  of  the  Vacuum."  "  When  the  unclean  spirit  is 
gone  out  of  a  man  he  walketh  through  dry  places  seeking 
rest"  —  seeking  a  soul  to  rest  in  —  "and  finding  none  he 
saith,  I  will  return  unto  my  house  whence  I  came  out. 
And  when  he  cometh  he  findeth  it  empty,  swept  and  gar- 
nished. Then  he  goeth  and  taketh  seven  other  spirits 
more  wicked  than  himself  and  they  enter  in  and  dwell 
there;  and  the  last  state  of  that  man  is  worse  than  the  first." 


HIS   METHOD  223 

The  untenanted  heart  is  in  peril.  The  empty  life  is  at 
the  mercy  of  all  the  evil  spirits  which  are  abroad.  The 
man  out  of  whom  some  evil  has  been  cast  —  reliance  upon 
the  false  stimulus  of  alcohol,  the  gambling  mania,  the  lust- 
ful practice,  the  addiction  to  morphia  —  where  its  place  is 
not  at  once  occupied  by  some  more  absorbing  and  worthy 
interest,  finds  himself  restless,  dissatisfied,  lonesome.  He 
misses  the  companionship  of  his  familiar  sin.  And  unless 
he  is  occupied  and  preoccupied  by  the  expulsive  and  defen- 
sive power  of  some  new  devotion,  he  may  speedily  find 
himself  given  over  to  seven  other  forms  of  evil,  his  last 
state  becoming  worse  than  the  first. 

The  man  who  has  simply  "  cut  it  out,"  repenting  of  his 
evil-doing  without  turning  to  Christ,  still  suffers  from  what 
the  insurance  men  call  "  a  moral  hazard."  The  un- 
occupied house  is  not  ordinarily  an  insurable  house. 
Emptiness  means  peril  in  things  temporal  and  in  things 
spiritual. 

"Sin  no  more  —  Enter  into  peace,"  indicates  the  double 
movement  of  the  soul  on  its  effective  way  from  darkness 
to  light.  The  empty  life,  even  though  it  be  swept  and 
garnished,  is  not  the  saved  nor  the  safe  life  —  the  full 
life  is  the  life  safeguarded  against  relapse.  "  I  am  come 
that  they  might  have  life"  —  clean,  sweet,  wholesome 
indeed,  but  also  full  and  strong — "and  that  they  might 
have  it  more  abundantly." 

There  are  lives  possessed  of  resource  abundant,  per- 
petually moving  about  in  a  nervous  quest  of  pleasurable 
excitement  which  only  leaves  the  vacuum  of  weariness, 
tedium,  ennui.  In  sheer  discontent  with  the  emptiness  of 
it  all  they  fling  themselves  away  in  some  wild  folly  or 
spree  in  order  to  escape  from  the  sense  of  vacancy  within. 
The  seven  spirits  come  and  the  last  state  is  worse  than  the 
first.     Such  souls  need  the  unifying  and  occupying  power  of 


224  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

a  great  life  purpose  sufficient  to  hold  the  situation  against 
all  comers. 

Here  is  the  old  collect  as  it  stands  in  the  revised  version: 
"  O  God  who  art  the  author  of  peace  and  lover  of  concord, 
in  knowledge  of  whom  standeth  our  eternal  life,  whose 
service  is  perfect  freedom,  grant  unto  thy  servants  that 
strength  which  the  world  cannot  yield,  that  our  hearts  being 
replenished  by  thee  we  may  spend  our  years  in  joyous 
usefulness  through  the  might  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 

The  parable  may  have  had  a  direct  application  to  those 
Jews.  "  The  old  demon  of  idolatry  brought  down  on  the 
Jews  the  Babylonian  captivity  and  was  in  turn  cast  out 
by  it.  They  did  not  after  their  return  fall  into  idolatry 
again,  but  rather  endured  persecution  under  Antiochus 
Epiphanes.  The  emptying,  sweeping  and  garnishing  may 
be  traced  in  the  growth  of  the  Pharisaic  and  Rabbinical 
schools  between  the  return  from  Babylon  and  the  coming  of 
our  Lord.  The  re-possession  and  accession  of  seven  other 
wicked  spirits  may  be  seen  in  their  bitter  hostility  to  Christ 
and  in  all  their  current  evil-doing." 

The  saving  of  many  an  individual  life  and  of  many  a 
community  turns  upon  the  question  of  providing  adequate 
interests  and  resources,  employments  and  companionships 
to  replace  the  banished  evil.  The  intelligent  physician  does 
not  undertake  to  "kill  microbes"  —  that  renowned  and 
futile  task  is  left  to  the  quack  and  the  patent  medicine 
man  whose  title  to  recognition  is  found  only  on  the  bill- 
boards —  he  strengthens  the  organism  that  it  may  itself 
guard  the  citadel  of  life,  "  keeping  its  goods  in  peace." 
And  this  becomes  the  recognized  method  of  treatment  in 
moral  maladies.  Be  filled  with  the  Spirit  that  ye  may  not 
be  drunken  with  wine!  "  Walk  in  the  Spirit  and  ye  shall  not 
fulfill  the  lust  of  the  flesh." 

"  Here    comes    in    the    absolute    necessity    of    providing 


HIS   METHOD  225 

rational  and  cheap  amusements  for  the  people  whom  our 
philanthropists  are  trying  to  draw  off  from  the  saloon  and 
the  gambling  house.  Pictures,  parks,  museums,  libraries, 
music,  a  healthier  and  happier  religion,  a  brighter  and 
sunnier  tone  to  all  our  life  —  these  are  the  positive  powers 
which  must  come  in  with  every  form  of  prohibition  and 
restraint  before  our  poorer  people  can  be  brought  to  live  a 
sensible  and  sober  life." 

"  Look  at  the  lives  that  our  rich  people  live,"  said  Phillips 
Brooks  to  his  congregation,  made  up  mainly  of  the  children 
of  good  fortune.  "  It  is  not  any  form  of  prohibition,  legal 
or  social,  that  keeps  them  from  degrading  and  disgusting 
vice.  It  is  the  fulness  of  their  own  lives,  the  warmth,  glow, 
comfort  and  abundance  of  their  homes,  the  occupation  of 
their  minds,  the  positive  and  not  the  negative,  the  inter- 
est and  plenty  which  the  poor  man  never  knows.  Before 
you  or  I  dare  blame  him  we  must  in  imagination  empty  our 
lives  like  his  and  ask  what  sort  of  people  we  should  be  in 
the  squalor  of  his  garret,  and  the  hopelessness  of  a  lot 
like  his." 

We  find  the  same  principle  operating  in  the  matter  of 
changing  beliefs.  The  men  who  have  jauntily  thrown  away 
the  convictions  which  formerly  possessed  their  souls,  with- 
out emerging  into  some  more  rational  and  tenable  faith, 
are  proverbially  the  ones  most  liable  to  be  overtaken  by  the 
worst  sort  of  sophistry  and  conceit  showily  offering  itself 
to  the  emptied  mind  as  a  philosophy  of  life. 

The  lighted  lamp  is  not  put  in  a  cellar  nor  under  a 
bushel  basket,  but  on  the  lamp  stand  that  it  may  light  the 
house,  enabling  all  those  who  enter  in  to  see.  In  like 
manner  the  light  of  the  inner  life  is  the  eye.  And  that 
there  may  be  light  within  enabling  each  man  to  recognize 
all  things  in  their  true  proportions  and  right  perspective, 
the  eye  must  be  simple,  single,  straightforward  in  its  work 


226  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

of  seeing.  Where  the  eye  Is  evil  the  inner  life  gropes  and 
fumbles  in  thick  darkness. 

The  Master  then  quickly  passes  from  this  bold  figure  to 
the  application  of  the  principle  to  the  moral  life.  Take 
heed  that  the  moral  light  by  which  you  order  your  life  be 
not  darkness.  Take  heed  that  those  more  enduring  realities 
are  seen  in  their  true  proportions  and  in  right  perspective. 
The  only  competent  "  organ  of  spiritual  knowledge,"  as 
Robertson  pointed  out  long  ago,  is  "  moral  obedience." 
If  any  man  wills  to  do  God's  will  he  comes  to  know  the 
truth  as  it  is.  If  any  man  will  take  upon  him  the  yoke  of 
Christ,  linking  up  his  life  with  the  life  of  the  Master  in 
patient,  co-operative  service,  he  will  learn  of  him. 

Here  are  the  two  contending  principles  —  the  darkness 
in  which  the  adversaries  of  Christ  walked  as  they  sought 
to  credit  his  good  deeds  to  the  agency  of  Satan;  and  the 
light  in  which  those  men  walk  whose  eyes  and  hearts  are 
single,  simple  and  sincere.  Let  the  spirit  of  obedience 
illumine  the  life  within  that  "  the  whole  may  be  full  of 
light  as  when  the  bright  shining  of  a  candle  doth  give  thee 
light." 


XXXVIII 
THE  SHAM  AND  THE  REAL 

Luke  11  :  37-54 

The  word  "  Pharisee "  means  "  separate."  The  main 
purpose  of  this  church  party  was  separation  from  every- 
thing non-Jewish.  The  law  must  be  scrupulously  kept. 
There  should  be  no  introduction  of  foreign  ideas  or  prac- 
tices. The  least  bit  of  alliance  with  the  uncircumcised 
outsider  was  taboo.  In  their  devotion  to  what  they  be- 
lieved to  be  Hebraic  they  were  purists  of  the  first  water. 

Their  strenuous  devotion,  which  was  of  the  letter  rather 
than  of  the  spirit,  had  made  their  piety  legalistic  rather 
than  evangelical.  The  essence  of  religion  lay  in  rule-keeping 
rather  than  in  a  certain  inward  temper  and  disposition. 
And  with  misdirected  zeal  they  had  imposed  upon  the 
written  law  a  heavy  load  of  oral  tradition  which  made  it  a 
burden  grievous  to  be  borne. 

The  Pharisees  were  the  first  to  assume  an  attitude  of 
open  hostility  to  our  Lord.  The  reason  is  plain.  His 
indifTerence  to  their  ascetic  practices  —  "He  came  eating 
and  drinking;  "  his  disregard  for  Levitical  purity  —  he  urged 
and  practiced  a  righteousness  which  was  of  the  heart;  his 
broad,  humane  use  of  the  Sabbath  as  "  made  for  man  " 
rather  than  as  an  item  in  a  certain  glove-fitting  religious 
regime,  all  tended  to  alienate  him  from  the  Pharisees. 

Jesus  was  a  faithful,  conscientious  member  of  the  Jewish 
Church.  He  had  a  right  to  expect  that  his  fellow-members 
would  aid  him  in  his  mission  which  included  the  spiritualiz- 
ing of  that  ancient  cultus  of  faith  and  practice.     But  when 

227 


228  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

he  came  to  his  own,  his  own  received  him  not.  The  lead- 
ing church  party  of  that  day  arrayed  itself  in  hateful 
opposition  to  his  gracious  purpose. 

In  turn  Jesus  denounced  the  Pharisees  with  a  severity 
which  seems  almost  out  of  drawing  with  his  customary 
attitudes.  His  sternest  rebukes  were  not  directed  against 
the  coarse  sins  of  gluttonous  men  and  winebibbers  or 
against  publicans  and  harlots.  The  rebukes,  which  were 
sharper  than  any  two-edged  sword,  were  directed  against 
those  high  churchmen  who  were  intent  upon  the  corpse  of 
religion  rather  than  upon  the  living  soul  of  it.  He  called 
them  "  whited  sepulchres,"  "  the  offspring  of  serpents  and 
vipers,"  "  blind  leaders  of  the  blind,"  "  an  evil  and  adulter- 
ous generation."  He  saw  conscientious  men  among  them, 
but  the  system  they  represented  was  fatal  to  the  interests  of 
morality  and  religion. 

Here  in  this  passage,  "A  Pharisee  asked  Jesus  to  dine 
with  him;  and  he  went  in  and  sat  down  to  meat."  The 
Master  had  come  straight  from  his  contact  with  the  multi- 
tude where  he  had  been  casting  out  a  demon.  The  Phari- 
see marveled  that  he  should  sit  down  to  meat  without  hav- 
ing observed  the  ceremonial  cleansing.  The  blue-blooded 
ecclesiastic,  more  careful  of  ritual  than  of  moral  values, 
more  intent  upon  religious  technique  than  upon  the  weight- 
ier matters  of  justice  and  mercy,  felt  outraged.  He  was 
sadly  deficient  in  vital  faith  and  in  humane  feeling,  but  he 
had  a  long,  sharp  nose  for  the  slightest  departure  from 
burdensome  tradition. 

His  objection  to  the  unwashed  hands  of  the  Master  was 
not  hygienic  nor  aesthetic  —  it  was  based  altogether  on 
ceremonial  grounds.  When  a  high  and  dry  Pharisee  came 
in  from  any  sort  of  contact  with  his  fellowmen  he  scrupu- 
lously washed  off  the  possible  defilement  which  might  per- 
chance have  fastened  upon  him.     It  might  be  that  some  un- 


HIS   METHOD  229 

circumcised  Gentile  had  touched  elbows  with  him  in  the 
crowd  or  had  allowed  the  wanton  air  to  blow  directly  from 
his  objectionable  person  upon  the  sacred  Pharisee. 

The  Master  censured  the  Pharisees  for  this  threefold 
error. 

1.  They  were  giving  their  main  attention  to  the  outward 
forms  of  religion  rather  than  to  those  inward  qualities  of 
mind  and  heart  which  are  the  chief  concern  of  faith  and 
conscience.  "  Ye  Pharisees  cleanse  the  outside  of  the  cup 
and  platter,  but  your  inward  part  is  full  of  extortion  and 
wickedness.  Ye  foolish  ones!  "  Did  not  He  that  made  the 
outside  make  the  inside  also?  It  is  easy  to  see  where  the 
author  of  a  recent,  widely  read  story  found  the  title  for 
his  book  and  the  Scriptural  warrant  for  its  main  conten- 
tion. 

2.  The  Master  censured  them  because  they  were  giving 
attention  to  the  petty  observances  of  religious  usage  rather 
than  to  the  weightier  matters  of  faith  and  practice.  They 
were  tithing  "  mint,  rue  and  every  herb,"  but  were  giving 
small  heed  to  justice  and  the  love  of  God.  They  were 
painstaking  in  their  fidelity  to  the  salt,  the  pepper  and  the 
mustard  on  the  table  of  the  Lord,  but  they  forgot  to  eat  or 
to  serve  that  bread  which  comes  down  from  above  to  give 
life  unto  the  world. 

3.  The  Master  censured  them  because  they  were  strong 
in  condemnation,  but  weak  in  sympathy.  They  could  pile 
up  huge  loads  of  oral  tradition.  They  could  burden  the 
consciences  of  their  fellows  with  fictitious  scruples  as  heavy 
as  lead.  But  they  did  not  themselves  touch  the  moral 
burdens  of  the  race  with  the  tips  of  their  fingers.  They 
sat  apart  in  the  seat  of  the  scornful,  proud,  self-righteous, 
contemptuous. 

The  common  people  heard  the  Master  gladly,  but  the 
Pharisees    did    not.     They    called    him    "  Beelzebub "    and 


230  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

stopped  their  ears.  His  teaching  was  too  direct,  too  vital, 
too  disturbing  for  them.  He  had  the  same  effect  upon 
them  that  one  would  have  if  he  left  the  outside  door  open. 
There  was  a  draught  and  too  much  fresh  air  for  the 
Pharisees.  They  had  never  heard  it  before  on  that  fash- 
ion and  they  did  not  want  to  hear  it  any  more  on  that 
fashion. 

What  an  ugly  caricature  of  the  fair  face  of  religion  looks 
out  upon  the  world  from  the  front  of  a  system  where 
artificial  distinctions  and  ecclesiastical  etiquette  are  exalted 
above  righteousness  of  life  and  kindliness  of  heart!  Genera- 
tions of  this  misdirected  emphasis  had  produced  a  race  of 
men  of  whom  Jesus  said  with  searching  and  terrible  ac- 
curacy, "  This  people  honoreth  me  with  their  lips,  but  their 
heart  is  far  from  me." 

In  its  inception  the  Hebrew  system  of  religious  purifica- 
tions had  value  for  the  moral  education  of  an  undeveloped 
people.  The  use  of  such  symbols  aided  in  establishing  in 
their  minds  a  clearer  conception  of  holiness  when  an  ab- 
stract ethical  idea  would  have  made  no  effective  appeal. 
But  with  the  writings  of  the  great  prophets  in  their  hands 
and  with  the  words  of  the  Master  falling  upon  their  ears, 
the  educative  value  attaching  to  that  kindergarten  stage  of 
a  nation's  spiritual  development  had  been  superseded. 
The  painstaking  insistence  upon  an  elaborately  wrought  out 
system  of  minute  observances  had  become  unspeakably 
trivial. 

"  Give  for  alms  those  things  which  are  within  and  behold 
all  things  are  clean  unto  you."  The  practice  of  a  kindly 
benevolence  was  a  much  surer  way  of  keeping  their  meals 
and  their  lives  free  from  ceremonial  defilement  than  all  the 
washing  of  cups  and  pots. 

Jesus  then  uttered  a  triad  of  ''  Woes "  against  these 
lovers  of  sham  and  pretense. 


HIS   METHOD  231 

Woe  unto  you  Pharisees  that  tithe  trifles  and  pass  over 
the  weighty  considerations  of  moral  life! 

Woe  unto  you  Pharisees  that  love  the  front  seats  of 
honor  in  the  synagogue  and  gracious  salutations  in  the 
marketplace  to  which  your  real  character  does  not  entitle 
you! 

Woe  unto  you  Pharisees  who  are  like  whitewashed  graves 
over  which  men  walk  unwittingly  to  their  defilement  — 
your  insincerity  is  such  that  men  receive  moral  damage 
from  contact  with  you  all  unawares! 

It  was  a  terrible  arraignment,  but  there  was  cause. 
When  the  cheap  things  of  life  are  counterfeited  wrong  is 
done,  but  the  result  is  not  serious.  When  the  gold  coin  of 
the  realm,  the  circulating  medium  of  human  society,  the 
ultimate  standard  to  which  all  material  values  are  referred 
for  final  appraisal,  is  counterfeited,  then  the  result  is  calami- 
tous. In  similar  fashion  when  religion,  the  coin  of  the 
realm  in  the  world  of  moral  values,  is  made  a  sham,  then 
the  stream  of  life  is  corrupted  at  the  source. 

The  formalism  of  those  Pharisees  at  times  became  in- 
ordinately cruel.  They  relieved  themselves  from  those 
immediate  duties  vital  to  the  maintenance  of  human  in- 
stitutions by  a  kind  of  ethical  hocus-pocus.  If  the  word 
"  Corban  "  had  been  pronounced  over  any  possession  which 
might  properly  have  been  used  for  the  support  of  one's 
needy  parents,  the  selfish  son  could  retain  that  piece  of 
property  without  incurring  the  sense  of  having  broken  the 
command  of  God  touching  the  duty  of  children  to  their 
parents.  He  could  by  this  piece  of  sleight-of-hand  take 
refuge  in  a  religious  bankruptcy  act  provided  by  "the  tradi- 
tion of  the  elders,"  relieving  himself  from  the  moral  ob- 
ligations which  rested  upon  him. 

The  Master  charged  up  to  that  perverted  system  of  the 
Pharisees  an  appalling  amount  of  evil.     "  From  the  blood 


232  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

of  Abel  to  the  blood  of  Zachariah  who  perished  between  the 
altar  and  the  sanctuary  it  shall  be  required  of  this  genera- 
tion." The  murder  of  Abel  was  the  first  and  the  murder 
of  Zachariah  was  the  last  in  the  Jewish  canon  which  ended 
with  second  Chronicles.  And  the  entire  system  had  been 
so  misleading  that  Jesus  laid  at  its  door  the  cruel  neglect 
of  those  divine  injunctions  designed  to  make  life  with  all 
its  interests  safe. 

The  Master  was  real  and  he  sternly  insisted  upon  reality 
in  his  followers.  He  had  no  patience  with  shams  for  he 
lived  in  the  open  where  there  was  neither  pretense  nor 
deceit.  To  this  end  was  he  born,  and  for  this  cause  did  he 
come  into  the  world  that  he  might  bear  witness  to  the 
truth.  When  he  reckons  up  his  followers  therefore  he  is 
satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  truth  in  the  inward  parts. 


XXXIX 

FAITH  DESTROYING  FEAR 

Luke    12:  1-12 

"Fear  not,  only  believe."  "Fear  not  —  it  is  your 
Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  Kingdom."  "  Fear 
not,  ye  are  of  more  value  than  many  sparrows."  The 
Master  would  lift  his  disciples  above  those  hindering  ap- 
prehensions of  disaster  into  the  same  serene  trust  which 
possessed  his  own  radiant  life. 

The  immediate  occasion  of  the  utterances  in  this  lesson 
was  the  attitude  of  the  Pharisees  referred  to  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter.  Jesus  had  denounced  their  sham  religion, 
jabbing  his  rebukes  into  their  tough  hides  as  if  each  word 
had  been  an  ox-goad.  "  And  when  he  was  come  out,  the 
scribes  and  the  Pharisees  began  to  press  upon  him  vehe- 
mently and  to  provoke  him  to  speak  of  many  things,  laying 
wait  for  him  to  catch  something  out  of  his  mouth."  And 
because  the  questions  touched  upon  were  live,  the  popular 
interest  ran  high  — "  there  was  gathered  together  an  in- 
numerable multitude  insomuch  that  the  people  trod  upon 
one  another." 

"  He  said  to  his  disciples  first  of  all.  Beware  of  the  leaven 
of  the  Pharisees  which  is  hypocrisy."  The  term  "  leaven  " 
is  used  almost  uniformly  in  Scripture  as  a  symbol  of  evil  — 
the  one  well-known  exception  being  the  other  use  of  it  in 
the  group  of  parables  touching  "  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 
The  subtle,  pervasive  power  of  evil  is  here  suggested.  If 
"  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  like  leaven,"  the  kingdom  of 
hell    is   also    like    leaven    in    its    pervasive    and    corrupting 

233 


234  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

energy.  If  the  principle  of  evil  be  introduced  into  three 
measures  of  life,  it  may  pervade  and  corrupt  the  whole 
lump. 

The  particular  form  of  evil-leaven  which  worked  in  the 
Pharisaical  lump  of  life  was  the  spirit  of  insincerity.  They 
were  the  most  religious  men  on  earth  outwardly  —  religion 
was  their  supreme  concern  —  but  within  they  were  pos- 
sessed by  malice  and  wickedness.  They  were  "  hypocrites  " 
and  Jesus  warned  his  disciples  against  their  deadly  sin  of 
insincerity. 

The  quality  of  sincerity  for  a  teacher  of  religion  is  the 
cardinal  excellence  —  it  is  what  virtue  is  to  a  woman, 
courage  to  a  soldier,  honesty  to  a  banker.  It  is  the  sine 
qua  non  —  if  it  is  wanting,  everything  is  wanting.  If  the 
people  cannot  feel  sure  that  the  man  means  what  he  says, 
that  he  is  striving  to  order  his  own  life  by  the  principles 
he  urges  upon  them,  that  his  appraisal  of  relative  values 
as  he  makes  his  own  determinations  is  the  same  as  that 
declared  in  public  speech,  then  his  utterances  are  vain  and 
his  influence  also  is  vain.  "  The  subtle,  commanding  ac- 
cent of  spiritual  veracity,"  which  can  come  only  from  "  truth 
in  the  inward  parts  *'  is  the  prime  requisite  for  all  such  ser- 
vice. "  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  which  is 
hypocrisy." 

Jesus  indicated  not  only  the  wickedness  of  it,  but  the 
foolishness  of  it.  The  truth  is  sure  to  come  out  at  last. 
We  live  in  a  world  of  fact  rather  than  of  fancy,  and  there 
is  a  steady  insistence  that  the  facts  shall  be  known.  "There 
is  nothing  covered  that  shall  not  be  revealed;  neither  hid 
that  shall  not  be  known."  This  may  or  may  not  be  at- 
tended by  the  sudden  bursting  open  of  all  closet  doors 
where  skeletons  are  hid,  or  by  the  emptying  out  of  all 
baskets  of  dirty  linen.  This  is  secondary.  In  the  inevitable 
registry  upon  character  (which  steadily  goes  on  for  good  or 


HIS  METHOD  235 

ill)  in  the  life  of  the  man  who  is  a  hypocrite  and  in  the 
lives  of  those  whom  he  influences  to  their  hurt,  there  is 
written  a  fearful  record  which  one  day  shall  be  declared. 

The  Master  therefore  urges  upon  his  disciples  the  prac- 
tice of  a  courageous  sincerity.  They  are  to  live  so  that  it 
will  occasion  them  no  dismay  that  what  they  have  spoken 
in  darkness  shall  be  heard  in  the  light,  what  they  have 
whispered  in  the  ear,  shall  be  proclaimed  from  the  house- 
tops. Where  the  life  is  genuine  it  has  no  fear  of  daylight 
or  of  X-rays. 

He  knew  what  temptations  they  would  have  to  face. 
He  knew  that  the  servant  w^ould  not  be  above  his  Lord  — 
if  they  called  the  Master  "  Beelzebub  "  and  led  him  to  the 
Cross,  the  disciples  could  not  count  upon  immunity.  He 
may  already  have  seen  tokens  in  his  leading  disciple  which 
would  cause  him  to  hide  behind  the  door  in  a  thrice- 
repeated  cowardly  denial.  He  therefore  addresses  his 
disciples  with  an  especial  tenderness  —  '*  I  say  unto  you, 
my  friends.  Be  not  afraid." 

These  men  were  urged  not  to  be  afraid  of  those  who 
might  kill  the  body  and  after  that  have  nothing  more  that 
they  could  do.  "  Fear  Him  who  after  he  hath  killed  hath 
power  to  cast  into  hell."  The  "  fear  Him  "  refers  not  to 
Satan,  but  to  God.  The  disciples  were  told  to  resist  Satan 
fearlessly,  but  not  to  fear  him.  There  is  no  teaching  which 
indicates  that  Satan  has  power  to  cast  into  hell.  The 
Master  is  seeking  to  lift  their  dread  away  from  these 
earthly  enemies  and  tribunals  which  have  only  a  limited 
ability  to  injure  up  to  that  Supreme  Tribunal  whose  au- 
thority is  absolute. 

In  added  warning  he  points  out  the  awful  and  lasting 
consequences  of  denying  their  profession  either  by  insin- 
cerity or  by  cowardly  fear.  "  Whosoever  shall  confess  me 
before  men,  him  shall  the  Son  of  Man  confess  before  the 


236  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

angels  of  God.  But  he  that  denieth  me  before  men  shall 
be  denied  before  the  angels  of  God."  The  "  confessing  " 
of  Christ  involves  something  more  vital  than  the  mere 
verbal  profession  of  one's  acceptance  of  him.  It  means  the 
open,  steady  and  persistent  acknowledgment  of  our  rela- 
tion to  him  in  word,  thought  and  deed  as  the  Lord  of  our 
lives.  And  such  a  genuine  confession  of  allegiance  will  be 
attended  by  his  open,  steady  and  persistent  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  relation  to  us  as  Saviour. 

Knowing  the  constant  tendency  of  character  toward  that 
rigidity  which  makes  the  work  of  spiritual  repair  all  but  im- 
possible, Jesus  here  indicated  the  peril  of  blaspheming 
against  the  Holy  Spirit.  Speaking  against  the  Son  of  Man 
would  be  forgiven,  but  speaking  against  the  Holy  Spirit 
would  not  be  forgiven.  The  reference  is  not  to  some  special 
form  of  words  uttered;  the  "  unpardonable  sin"  is  not  one 
specific  act.  It  consists  rather  of  "  speaking  against  "  the 
inner  voice  of  the  Spirit,  by  paying  no  heed  to  his  admoni- 
tions, until  the  heart  is  firm  set  in  the  path  of  disobedience. 

If  any  man  feels  troubled  lest  he  may  have  committed 
the  unpardonable  sin,  let  him  be  assured  that  he  has  not 
committed  it.  His  own  concern  and  spiritual  unrest  are 
hopeful.  The  sin  which  hath  not  forgiveness  means  that 
inward  hardening  of  the  spiritual  nature  which  issues  in 
total  apathy  and  indifference.  The  conscience  is  atrophied 
and  the  Spirit  is  grieved  away  by  this  persistent  refusal  of 
all  the  overtures  of  a  merciful  redemption  until  the  very 
desire  for  forgiveness  is  gone.  The  moral  apathy  is  such 
as  to  make  repentance  and  renewal  not  theoretically  im- 
possible, but  practically  improbable  and  unlikely  —  this 
is  the  sin  which  is  "  a  sin  unto  death." 

In  the  face  of  these  perils  the  Master  heartened  his  disci- 
ples by  certain  confident  assurances.  "  Are  not  five 
sparrows  sold  for  two  farthings,  yet  not  one  of  them  is 


HIS   METHOD  237 

forgotten  before  God.  Fear  not,  therefore,  ye  are  of  more 
value  than  many  sparrows.  Even  the  hairs  of  your  head 
are  all  numbered." 

This  promise  of  a  personal,  minute  attention  to  the  needs 
of  these  myriads  of  human  lives  staggers  our  belief.  The 
mind  of  man  is  not  built  on  a  scale  to  readily  apprehend 
the  full  content  of  such  an  affirmation.  But  the  Heavenly 
Father  is  an  Infinite  Father!  The  scale  and  range  of  his 
boundless  interest  are  such  as  to  demand  literally  an  end- 
less array  of  objects  upon  which  to  expend  his  love.  There 
is  with  him  no  saturation-point  of  interest  to  be  speedily 
passed  by  the  increasing  number  of  small  concerns. 

The  clear  word  of  William  James  on  this  point  sounds 
the  note  of  an  intelligent  confidence.  "  God  has  so  inex- 
haustible a  capacity  for  love  that  his  call  and  need  is  for  a 
literally  endless  accumulation  of  created  lives.  He  can 
never  faint  nor  grow  weary  as  we  should  under  the  in- 
creasing supply.  His  scale  is  infinite  in  all  things.  His 
sympathy  can  never  know  satiety  or  glut." 

When  we  undertake  to  picture  to  ourselves  the  provi- 
dential interest  and  care  of  the  Father  we  sometim.es  forget 
that  he  is  not  such  another  as  ourselves.  "  Revere  thy 
Maker,  lift  thine  eye  up  to  his  style  and  manners  of  the 
sky."  In  the  light  of  that  larger  vision  of  the  eternal 
verities,  we  may  readily  believe  that  he  notes  the  sparrow's 
fall  and  that  the  very  hairs  of  our  heads  are  all  numbered. 

When  these  disciples  were  arraigned  before  synagogues 
and  rulers  because  of  their  bold  confession  of  Christ,  they 
were  not  to  be  anxious  as  to  how  they  would  answer. 
The  Holy  Spirit  would  teach  them  in  that  hour  what  to 
say.  The  promise  is  made  solely  with  reference  to  those 
times  of  trial  when  they  were  arraigned  by  the  authorities 
for  their  faith. 

The  lazy  minister  is  not   to  be  encouraged   by  such   a 


238  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

promise  to  go  unprepared  into  his  pulpit  trusting  that  if 
he  but  open  his  mouth  "  the  Lord  will  fill  it."  The  Lord 
will  fill  it  with  fresh  air  if  the  church  is  well  ventilated, 
but  he  lays  upon  the  heart  of  the  man  himself  the  more 
serious  responsibility  of  further  filling  it  with  a  helpful  and 
inspiring  message  as  a  part  of  the  service  to  which  he  is 
appointed.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  an  intelligent  Spirit,  able 
to  show  reasons  for  all  he  does  —  and  the  added  endue- 
ment  of  power  is  bestowed  upon  those  men  who  have 
shown  diligence  in  using  their  own  powers  to  the  utmost 
in  preparing  for  their  high  task. 


XL 
CHRIST'S  TABLE  TALK 

Luke  14  :  7-24 

Jesus  uttered  his  message  as  he  sat  at  meat  and  as  he 
walked  by  the  way.  He  wrote  his  ideals  upon  the  door- 
posts of  the  house.  He  fastened  his  principles  for  a  sign 
upon  men's  hands.  He  made  his  aspirations  as  frontlets 
between  their  eyes.  He  was  always  about  his  Father's 
business. 

Here  he  was  being  entertained  in  the  home  of  plenty. 
"  One  of  the  chief  Pharisees  had  invited  him  to  eat  bread." 
The  Master  spoke  first  to  the  guests  when  he  saw  their 
unseemly  scramble  for  the  places  of  distinction.  "  When 
thou  art  bidden  to  a  feast,  sit  not  down  in  the  highest 
place.  Go  and  sit  down  in  the  lowest  place,  that  he  that 
bade  thee  may  say,  '  Friend,  go  up  higher.'  Then  thou 
shalt  have  honor  in  the  presence  of  them  that  sit  at  meat 
with  thee."  In  the  Kingdom  of  God  the  pathway  of 
humility  is  the  pathway  to  promotion.  The  man  who 
exalts  himself  is  by  that  very  fact  (not  as  a  punishment, 
but  by  the  quality  of  life  produced)  abased;  while  the 
man  who  humbleth  himself  is  by  his  quality  of  life  exalted. 

I  was  once  entertained  in  the  city  of  Kyoto  in  the  well- 
appointed  home  of  a  generous  Japanese.  A  formal  dinner 
was  given  for  our  pleasure,  and  when  we  entered  the  dining- 
room  my  wife  and  I  were  asked  to  sit  in  the  places  of  honor. 
We  at  once  took  the  places  designated  as  we  would  have 
done  in  an  American  home  at  the  bidding  of  the  hostess. 
But    we    were    told    next    day    by    a    resident    missionary 

239 


240  THE   MASTER'S   WAY 

present  at  the  dinner  who  knew  us  well  enough  to  be  frank, 
that  we  had  committed  an  unpardonable  breach  of  eti- 
quette. We  did  not  know  the  moves  in  the  game  as  the 
well-bred  play  it  in  Japan.  We  should  have  gone  to  the 
lower  end  of  the  dining-room  and  have  seated  ourselves 
there.  The  host  would  then  have  urged  us  to  take  the 
other  seats,  and  gradually  we  would  have  allowed  our- 
selves to  be  persuaded,  showing  that  proper  measure  of 
reluctance  required  by  good  breeding,  until  we  were  trans- 
ferred to  those  higher  seats  at  the  dinner  which  were 
originally  meant  for  us. 

The  Japanese  present  passed  it  over  in  charitable  fashion, 
attributing  it  to  our  American  deficiency  in  proper  de- 
portment which  they  believe  to  be  quite  common.  And 
when  we  learned,  to  our  humiliation,  how  such  things  are 
done  in  Japanese  society,  we  felt  that  we  did  not  need  any 
commentaries  on  this  passage  in  Luke  to  enable  us  to 
fully  comprehend  its  meaning. 

"  Sit  not  down  in  the  highest  place."  What  a  word  for 
those  anxious  social  aspirants  who  are  feverishly  eating 
their  hearts  out  in  their  scramble  for  preferment  at  the 
feasts  of  the  Four  Hundred!  They  would  consult  their 
own  interest  as  v/ell  as  improve  the  quality  of  their  action 
by  giving  sober  heed  to  this  principle  uttered  by  One  who 
was  termed  by  Lord  Chesterfield,  "  the  only  perfect  gentle- 
man in  the  history  of  the  world."  The  "  climbers "  in 
society  are  habitually  "  abased  "  in  the  eyes  of  those  whose 
social  standing  is  secure,  while  those  who  bend  to  unselfish 
service  from  a  kindly  interest  in  their  fellows  are  steadily 
exalted. 

The  Master  then  had  a  word  of  suggestion  for  his  host, 
so  that  each  man  might  receive  his  meat  in  due  season. 
"  When  thou  makest  a  dinner,  call  not  thy  friends  nor  thy 
kinsmen,  nor  thy  rich  neighbors,  lest  haply  they  also  bid 


HIS   METHOD  241 

thee  again  and  a  recompense  be  made."  "  Lest  haply  " 
—  what  delicate  and  delicious  irony!  He  speaks  of  the 
possible  return  of  favors  as  if  it  were  a  peril  they  were  in- 
curring instead  of  being  the  solid  result  at  which  they  were 
directly  aiming  in  their  studied  cultivation  of  their  "rich 
neighbors."  The  Master  did  not  disdain  to  use  irony  at 
times  to  point  his  truth  and  make  it  sting.  He  pressed 
home  his  truth  by  every  word  that  proceedeth  out  of  the 
mouth  of  effective  speech. 

"Call  not"  —  the  verb  stands  in  the  present  tense  as 
indicating  a  certain  habit  to  be  avoided.  Men  were  not 
to  be  continually  inviting  their  "  rich  neighbors "  who 
would  naturally  recompense  them  with  reciprocal  hospi- 
tality. The  rich  were  not  to  be  omitted  entirely  from 
invitation,  but  they  were  not  to  monopolize  one's  hospi- 
tality to  the  exclusion  of  those  unable  to  make  such  gener- 
ous recompense  for  courtesies  extended. 

"When  thou  makest  a  feast"  —  when  the  heart's  best 
energies  find  expression  in  some  unusual  way,  "  call  the 
poor."  Let  the  finest  offices  of  generosity  be  directed 
mainly  to  those  who  need  them  most  rather  than  to  those 
who  need  them  least. 

The  uncalculating  disposition  furnishes  the  only  mood 
competent  to  exercise  the  grace  of  hospitality  upon  its 
higher  levels.  Where  the  eyes  of  the  host  are  intent  upon  a 
possible  return  of  favors,  the  entertainer  of  those  "  rich 
neighbors  "  may  not  be  showing  himself  hospitable  at  all. 
He  may  be  merely  doing  a  little  business  with  his  well-to- 
do  friends  in  terms  of  social  value.  "It  is  pleasant  to 
entertain  one's  friends,  seemly  to  entertain  one's  relatives, 
advantageous  to  entertain  one's  rich  neighbors"  —  but 
hospitality  cannot  stop  there  without  losing  its  soul.  It 
must  move  on  to  the  merging  of  all  thought  of  reciprocal 
advantage  in  that  gracious  entertainment  of  the  poor,  the 


242  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

maimed,  the  lame,  the  blind,  who  cannot  recompense  the 
kindness  shown  them  —  it  will  thus  find  itself. 

The  situation  at  the  Pharisee's  table  was  becoming  some- 
what strained  by  these  unconventional  remarks  of  this 
teacher  of  religion  from  up  country  —  he  was  "  a  Galilean  " 
in  whom  none  of  the  rulers  believed.  "  A  painful  silence, 
such  as  may  befall  a  party  or  even  a  prayer  meeting  when 
something  too  real  and  searching  has  been  said,  had  hushed 
the  conversation  at  this  dinner  table." 

Then  there  came  to  the  relief  of  the  host  and  of  all 
hands  one  of  those  smiling  individuals  who  always  carry 
with  them  a  generous  supply  of  small  change  and  of  pious 
platitude,  to  fill  up  the  awkward  gaps  in  polite  conversa- 
tion. "  Blessed  is  he,"  said  this  complacent  gentleman 
intent  upon  the  enjoyment  of  his  dinner  without  having 
it  marred  by  the  intrusion  of  irritating  and  impossible 
social  ideals  —  "Blessed  is  he  that  shall  eat  bread  in  the 
Kingdom  of  God." 

No  exceptions  can  be  taken  to  this  statement  as  a  general 
proposition.  But  the  Master  was  not  accustomed  to  do 
business  in  the  shallow  waters  of  meaningless  platitude. 
He  at  once  launched  out  into  the  deep  and  let  down  his 
net  as  a  fisherman  intent  upon  values  fundamental. 

He  told  them  a  most  unlikely  story  of  a  man  who  made 
a  great  supper  and  invited  many.  The  invitations  ap- 
parently were  accepted.  When  the  time  arrived  he  sent 
his  servant  to  say,  "  Come,  for  all  things  are  now  ready." 
Then  the  guests  began  to  offer  the  most  absurd  excuses  — 
one  had  purchased  a  farm,  another  had  bought  a  yoke  of 
oxen  and  a  third  had  married  and  was  unwilling  —  for 
some  inexplicable  reason  —  to  bring  his  bride  to  the  "  great 
supper." 

This  is  not  the  way  of  the  world.  This  is  not  the  way 
people    generally    deport    themselves    in    the    presence    of 


HIS   METHOD  243 

invitations  to  "great  suppers,"  especially  where  the  in- 
vitations have  been  previously  accepted.  It  was  by  this 
improbable  picture  of  human  action  that  Jesus  exposed  in 
telling  fashion  the  shameful  inconsistency  and  absurdity 
of  those  Jews  who  having  reckoned  themselves  for  centuries 
the  chosen  guests  of  God  were  now  refusing  his  own  sum- 
mons to  that  best  wine  of  the  feast  through  their  sinful 
preoccupation  with  "  many  things." 

The  Master  answered  that  easygoing  platitude  about  the 
blessedness  of  eating  bread  in  the  Kingdom  of  God,  by 
asking  those  men  at  table  with  him  how  much  they  really 
cared  for  those  high  ideals  of  the  Kingdom  declared  in  their 
ears  by  his  own  message.  What  sacrifices  were  they  ready 
to  make  in  the  matter  of  farms  or  oxen  or  home  comforts 
for  the  sake  of  realizing  those  great  ideals  that  men  might 
eat  bread  in  the  Kingdom  of  God! 

He  proceeded  to  show  in  the  further  development  of  his 
story  how  the  claims  of  these  preferred  creditors,  as  they 
regarded  themselves,  would  be  set  aside  to  make  room  for 
the  interests  of  the  neglected.  "  None  of  those  men  who 
were  bidden  (and  had  then  treated  their  high  privilege 
coldly)  should  taste  of  the  supper."  The  servant  was  sent 
into  the  lanes  and  streets  to  call  in  the  poor  and  the 
maimed,  the  halt  and  the  blind,  that  the  feast  might  be 
furnished  with  guests. 

The  neglected  classes  made  eager  response.  The  poor 
had  no  farms  to  be  viewed.  The  halt  and  the  blind  could 
have  no  part  in  the  proving  of  oxen.  The  maimed  by  their 
physical  deformities  may  have  been  precluded  from  marry- 
mg  wives.  There  was  no  careless  preoccupation  here  to 
detain  them  from  that  interest  which  was  indeed  supreme. 

It  is  pathetic  to  find  that  in  every  case  it  was  a  legiti- 
mate, praiseworthy  form  of  interest,  rather  than  some 
wicked,  criminal   purpose,  which  held  back  these  fortunate 


244  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

men  from  the  enjoyment  of  the  feast  of  Hfe  contemplated 
in  the  gospel  of  Christ.  How  modern  it  all  is!  Here  is  a 
man  whose  purchase  of  a  country  house  where  he  spends 
his  week-ends,  or  his  possession  of  a  new  automobile,  or  his 
devotion  to  a  bride  beautiful  as  a  June  morning,  becomes 
the  occasion  of  his  leaving  his  seat  in  church  empty  and  his 
share  of  Christian  activity  unperformed. 

And  here,  as  in  so  many  somber  passages  of  Scripture 
and  of  history,  the  privileged  showing  themselves  unre- 
sponsive to  the  call  of  duty,  are  replaced  by  those  who  have 
been  classed  with  the  unprivileged.  "  The  man  with  the 
long  start  in  the  race  forfeits  it  to  some  poor  straggler 
in  the  rear."  By  the  judgments  of  God,  here  boldly  de- 
clared at  that  dinner  table  of  old,  the  mighty  are  put  down 
from  their  seats  and  men  of  low  degree  are  exalted. 


XLI 
THE  MISSION  TO  THE  GENTILES 

Mark  7  :  24-30;   Matt.  8  :  5-13 

God  is  no  respecter  of  persons  or  of  race  prejudice. 
There  is  no  partiality  with  him.  In  the  light  of  his  moral 
interest,  "  there  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is  neither 
bond  nor  free,  there  is  neither  male  nor  female  for  all  are 
one  in  Christ."  He  is  not  "my  Father"  nor  "your 
Father,"  but  "  Our  Father." 

In  the  assertion  of  this  broad  sweep  of  the  divine  interest 
Jesus  "  arose  and  went  into  the  borders  of  Tyre  and  Si- 
don."  He  left  the  Galilean  synagogue  which  had  cast  him 
out  in  its  petty  narrowness  and  went  among  the  Gentiles 
in  that  wider  freedom  which  belongs  to  the  mission  of  the 
Son  of  God. 

He  went  quietly  "  but  he  could  not  be  hid."  Human 
need  speedily  discovered  his  presence.  There  was  a  woman 
who  was  a  Greek,  a  Syrophenician  by  birth,  who  had  a 
little  daughter  grievously  afflicted  by  one  of  those  nervous 
maladies  popularly  attributed  to  daemonic  influence.  She 
came  and  fell  at  the  Master's  feet,  beseeching  him  to  heal 
her  child. 

The  disciples  were  annoyed  by  her  persistence  and  they 
were  distrustful  as  to  the  Master's  willingness  to  extend  his 
help  beyond  the  borders  of  Israel.  They  said,  "Send  her 
away,  for  she  crieth  after  us."  The  feeling  of  race  prejudice 
at  that  time  was  keen  and  selfish.  The  man  of  strange 
speech  was  termed  a  "barbarian"  —  when  he  uttered  his 
words  they  were  mere  "  bar  bar." 

245 


246  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

And  the  first  reply  which  Jesus  made  to  her  appeal 
seemed  passing  strange.  "  Let  the  children  first  be  filled  — 
it  is  not  meet  to  take  the  children's  bread  and  cast  it  unto 
the  dogs."  There  was  nothing  unfamiliar  in  the  sound  of 
these  words  to  the  ears  of  the  Gentile  woman  —  "  dogs  " 
was  the  customary  designation  applied  by  Jews  to  men  and 
women  of  another  race. 

It  has  seemed  to  many  that  these  words  sound  harsh  if 
not  insolent  as  they  fall  from  the  lips  of  Christ  addressed 
as  they  are  to  a  woman  in  distress.  But  we  need  to  hear 
the  words  in  their  setting.  We  need  to  supply  the  tone 
of  voice  and  the  look  which  accompanied  them.  We  can- 
not always  measure  the  force  nor  determine  the  quality  of 
words  by  rules  of  syntax.  The  bare  words  "  children"  and 
"  dogs  "  do  have  a  strange  sound! 

But  the  associations  of  words  are  everything.  When  a 
man  calls  his  wife  a  "  duck  "  she  is  happy  and  when  he 
calls  her  a  "  goose  "  she  is  grieved.  It  would  seem  to  me 
that  when  Jesus  used  the  familiar  term  "  dogs  "  he  ut- 
tered the  phrase  with  gentle  irony  as  indicating  the  ab- 
surdity of  the  boasted  superiority  of  the  Jew  and  registering 
his  dissent  from  it.  He  would  make  plain  the  fact  that  he 
regarded  the  stiff  race  prejudice  so  common  at  that  time  as 
being  trivial  and  ridiculous.  The  best  test  of  the  real 
import  of  his  word  is  to  be  found  in  its  effect  —  and  it  is 
clear  beyond  a  peradventure  that  the  Gentile  woman  was 
not  offended  or  repelled;  on  the  contrary,  she  was  en- 
couraged in  her  appeal. 

Quick  as  a  flash,  with  a  mingling  of  humor  and  insist- 
ence, she  answered  him,  "  Yes,  Lord,  but  the  pet  dogs, 
the  house  dogs  "  —  this  is  the  purport  of  the  special  word 
she  employed  — "  under  the  table  eat  of  the  children's 
crumbs."  It  was  more  than  a  quick  turn  or  a  skillful  play 
upon  words  —  she  would  take  the  humble  position  assigned 


HIS   METHOD  247 

her  by  race  prejudice  and  from  under  the  table  assert  a 
claim  which  was  habitually  recognized.  There  was  place 
and  provision  for  the  pet  dogs  in  the  household  economy, 
and  there  was  a  place  for  Gentiles  in  the  divine  compassion. 
The  woman  had  heard  not  his  words  alone  but  his  mean- 
ing, and  by  that  meaning  she  was  emboldened  to  repeat 
her  appeal. 

Mother-love  is  mother-love  wherever  found  —  it  is  not 
orthodox  here  and  heretic  there.  And  the  pain  of  a  child, 
be  it  Jewish  or  Gentile,  makes  its  appeal  to  the  heart  of 
compassion  with  the  same  immediacy  in  every  land  and 
language  of  earth.  And  the  divine  pity  is  one  whether  the 
distress  it  holds  in  view  is  under  the  Southern  Cross  or 
near  the  Arctic  Circle.  "  Have  we  not  all  one  Father? 
Hath  not  one  God  created  us?  "  Unto  him  shall  all  our 
need  come  and  come  not  in  vain.  The  Master  rejoiced 
over  her  persistent  faith  and  the  daughter  was  healed. 

What  an  object  lesson  to  those  narrow-hearted  disciples 
who  would  have  sent  her  away!  What  an  object  lesson  to 
all  men  of  meager  sympathies  who  would  limit  their  interest 
and  the  interest  of  the  Universal  Father  to  those  whose 
speech  and  skin  and  manner  of  life  are  like  their  own.  We 
have  in  our  own  speech  epithets  roughly  applied  to  men 
of  other  races  which  are  as  offensive  to  their  ears  as  was 
the  term  "  Gentile  dog  "  to  those  outside  the  Hebrew  line. 
So  long  as  "  Dago  "  and  "  Sheeny,"  "  Nigger  "  and  "  Mick" 
fall  from  the  lips  of  American-born  white  men,  we  still 
have  need  to  lay  the  truths  of  this  lesson  to  heart. 

Then  coupled  with  this  account  of  the  Master's  experi- 
ence in  the  borders  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  we  have  the  story 
of  the  centurion  who  came  interceding  on  behalf  of  a  sick 
servant.  The  humanity  of  the  man  stands  revealed  in  the 
nature  of  his  mission  —  he  was  not  making  his  appeal  on 
his  own  behalf  or  for  any  member  of  his  immediate  family 


248  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

—  he  was  interceding  for  a  sick  slave.  The  ready  interest 
of  Luke  in  the  fact  that  Jews  and  Gentiles  alike  were 
coming  to  share  in  the  benefits  of  the  coming  kingdom 
causes  him  to  add  other  details  throwing  light  upon  the 
character  of  this  outsider.  "  The  elders  of  the  Jews " 
supported  the  request  of  the  centurion  saying  "  that  he  was 
worthy  for  whom  he  should  do  this,  for  he  loveth  our  na- 
tion and  hath  built  us  a  synagogue." 

The  Master  acceded  to  the  request  instantly,  saying 
"  I  will  come  and  heal  him."  But  the  centurion  demurred 
to  this  generous  offer  —  "I  am  not  worthy  that  thou 
shouldest  come  under  my  roof  —  speak  the  word  only  and 
my  servant  shall  be  healed."  Then  he  proceeded  to  explain 
that  he  was  a  man  under  discipline.  He  was  accustomed 
to  take  orders  in  the  Roman  army  where  he  served  and 
to  give  orders  to  his  subordinates. 

He  therefore  thought  of  the  w^hole  world  as  "  a  camp  of 
living  forces."  He  had  heard  of  the  deeds  done  by  this 
prophet  of  Galilee  and  was  confident  that  "  his  word  was 
with  power."  He  is  therefore  ready  to  commit  his  case  to 
the  utterance  of  a  command  that  the  sick  servant  should 
be  healed.  He  will  not  ask  for  the  visible  presence  of  the 
Master  under  his  roof  —  he  will  be  content  with  the  bare 
assertion  of  his  redemptive  power.  He  had  the  modesty 
and  the  spirit  of  discipline  which  belong  to  the  military  man 
at  his  best. 

In  its  very  contrast  to  some  of  the  treatment  he  had 
recently  experienced  at  the  hands  of  **  his  own,"  the  defer- 
ence and  the  unquestioning  trust  of  this  outsider  touched 
the  heart  of  Christ.  "  I  have  not  found  so  great  faith,  no, 
not  in  Israel."  The  faith  of  Israel  on  wide  areas  had  be- 
come clouded  by  excessive  devotion  to  ritual.  The  great 
vital  realities  were  obscured  by  the  elaborate  attention 
given  to  the  washing  of  cups  and  pots,  to  the  tithing  of  salt 


HIS   METHOD  249 

and  pepper  and  mustard.  Thus  the  weightier  matters  of 
justice  and  mercy  suffered  neglect. 

Here  is  the  oft-repeated  truth  that  faith  is  not  intellec- 
tual assent  to  a  series  of  theological  propositions.  Faith 
is  not  the  ability  to  accept  as  true  a  certain  set  of  historical 
statements.  Faith  is  rather  an  attitude  of  expectant  con- 
fidence in  the  heart  making  it  receptive.  It  is  that  attitude 
of  expectant  confidence  on  the  part  of  human  need  in  the 
presence  of  the  ultimate  source  of  help,  dimly  understood 
though  it  may  be,  which  completes  the  connection  and 
serves  as  a  conductor  for  that  power  from  above  which  is 
able  to  heal  and  to  save. 

Jesus  regarded  the  confident  expectation  of  this  soldierly 
man  as  the  first  fruits  of  a  great  ingathering.  He  saw  as  in 
a  vision  multitudes  of  these  awakened  souls  who  stood  out- 
side the  lines,  coming  from  the  east  and  the  west  to  sit 
down  with  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  in  the  Kingdom  of 
God.  He  uttered  ever  and  anon  words  which  show  that 
he  conceived  his  mission  as  being  world-wide;  he  was  not 
the  founder  of  another  and  a  better  Jewish  sect;  he  came 
to  proclaim  a  gospel  which  had  in  it  the  notes  of  universal- 
ity and  he  would  project  his  redemptive  power  into  all 
the  nations  of  earth. 

"  But  the  children  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be  cast  out." 
Here  is  the  reverse  side  of  the  shield!  The  very  breadth 
of  the  gospel  became  an  offense  and  a  stumbling  block  to 
the  narrow-hearted  Hebrews.  The  very  hospitality  of  the 
Kingdom  Jesus  proclaimed  seemed  like  a  denial  of  the 
worth  of  the  traditional  privilege  enjoyed  by  the  haughty 
ecclesiastics.  His  moral  interest  was  altogether  too  roomy 
for  these  spiritual  aristocrats,  and  their  stiff  prejudice  served 
to  cast  them  into  outer  darkness. 

"  The  perdition  of  the  respectable,"  Dean  Hodges 
characterizes  it  in  his  telling  phrase.     "  That  we  respecta- 


250  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

ble,  intelligent,  moral,  religious  folk  who  attend  church 
with  regularity  may  be  among  the  lost,  we  do  not  for  a 
moment  imagine.  We  take  it  quietly  and  confidently  for 
granted,  every  one  of  us,  that  we  shall  be  saved.  It  is 
quite  likely  that  some  of  the  men  and  women  whose  names 
we  read  in  the  police  reports  will  go  to  hell.  They  ought 
to.  That  is  where  they  belong.  But  we  ourselves  —  that 
is  a  different  matter." 

The  words  of  Christ  open  up  this  question  afresh. 
"  The  children  of  the  Kingdom  shall  be  cast  out."  The 
privileged  shall  be  held  to  stricter  account  because  of  the 
advantages  they  have  enjoyed.  And  when  they  fall  so  far 
below  the  persistent  faith  of  the  Syrophenician  woman  or  the 
ready  confidence  of  the  soldier  under  discipline,  they  may 
indeed  wonder  whether  they  will  sit  down  in  the  Kingdom 
with  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  or  find  themselves 
elsewhere.  The  cheap  and  easy  virtue  of  outward  respecta- 
bility and  of  religious  conformity  is  of  no  great  moment  — 
the  venture  and  the  heroism  of  faith  is  demanded  if  we 
would  possess  the  Kingdom  of  God. 


XLII 
WANDERINGS  IN  DECAPOLIS 

Mark  7  :  31-8  :  10 

We  find  in  this  passage  a  twofold  presentation  of  the 
power  of  Christ  in  bestowing  life  more  abundant.  There 
was  the  quickening  of  faculty  in  the  opening  of  the  ears  of 
the  deaf  man  that  he  might  hear  and  the  loosing  of  his 
tongue  that  he  might  speak.  There  was  also  the  satisfaction 
of  normal  need  portrayed  in  the  narrative  of  the  feeding  of 
the  four  thousand  by  the  faithful  utilization  of  resources 
apparently  inadequate.  "Who  healeth  all  thy  diseases: 
who  satisfieth  thy  mouth  with  good  things!  " 

The  gospel  has  come  into  the  world  that  we  might  have 
life.  It  has  come  to  make  men  alive  at  more  points, 
alive  on  higher  levels,  alive  in  more  effective  ways.  The 
highest  benefit  to  be  obtained  from  fellowship  and  co- 
operation with  Christ  comes  in  that  sense  of  abounding 
life.  His  familiar  statement  in  the  best-known  of  all  the 
parables,  "  This  do  and  thou  shalt  live,"  points  to  the 
ultimate  purpose  of  his  entire  ministry  to  the  race.  He 
that  hath  religion  hath  life,  and  he  that  hath  not  religion 
hath  not  real  life.  The  highest  reward  of  religious  faith 
and  effort  comes  in  an  enlarged  capacity  to  live.  The 
gospel  is  only  accomplishing  its  full  purpose  where  it  is 
making  men  and  communities  more  thoroughly,  richly  and 
usefully  alive. 

We  see  this  great  truth  wrought  out  as  in  acted  parables 
in  the  two  narratives  here  offered  for  our  study.  Here  was 
a  man  who  was  deaf  to  the  murmur  of  the  pines  and  to 

251 


252  THE  MASTER'S  WAV 

the  plash  of  the  waves,  deaf  to  the  songs  of  the  birds  and 
to  the  laughter  of  little  children.  He  was  living  a  dull, 
meager,  unsatisfying  life  in  a  world  of  unbroken  silence. 

In  the  face  of  such  a  lack  it  was  directly  in  line  with  the 
main  purpose  of  One  who  came  to  recover  that  which  is 
lost  that  he  should  put  his  hands  upon  this  lack  of  power 
saying,  "  Ephphatha,  be  opened."  He  would  open  up  new 
avenues  of  approach  to  that  handicapped  life  that  through 
the  uplifted  gates  a  fuller  message  of  this  world  of  interest 
might  enter  into  his  personal  consciousness.  The  Master 
is  saying  to  every  life  that  hears  not  the  still,  small  voice 
of  the  Spirit  of  the  Living  God,  "  Be  opened."  He  would 
have  it  react  under  every  sort  of  stimulus  visible  or  in- 
visible, tangible  or  spiritual.  He  Vv^ould  have  the  entire 
world  of  reality  perpetually  finding  its  way  into  the  deeper 
consciousness  of  every  man. 

It  is  just  as  true  now  as  it  was  at  the  beginning  that 
only  those  who  have  ears  to  hear  can  hear.  It  is  also 
plain  that  only  those  whose  ears  are  sensitive  can  hear  well. 
In  things  spiritual  as  well  as  in  the  case  of  ordinary  acous- 
tic vibrations  this  principle  stands.  The  world  of  sense 
and  of  soul  is  woven  by  a  single  hand  throughout;  there 
are  great  natural  laws  which  have  their  counterpart  in  the 
spiritual  realm. 

When  the  guilty  man  and  woman  "  heard  the  voice  of 
the  Lord  God  "  as  he  walked  in  the  garden  in  the  cool  of 
the  day  and  "  were  frightened,"  the  fact  was  full  of 
promise.  It  showed  that  they  had  not  persisted  in  their 
wrongdoing  until  the  spiritual  sense  was  atrophied.  They 
could  still  hear  the  divine  footfalls  and  fear  because  they 
had  been  doing  wrong.  The  terrible  plight  belongs  to 
those  who  continue  in  their  sins  until  they  neither  hear 
nor  fear  the  voice  of  the  Lord.  If  you  suffer  because  of  your 
sins,  thank  God  —  it  shows  at  least  that  you  are  still  alive. 


HIS   METHOD  253 

When  the  ears  of  this  mute  on  the  coasts  of  DecapoHs 
had  been  opened  and  the  string  of  his  tongue  had  been  un- 
loosed so  that  he  spoke  plainly,  he  immediately  began  to 
use  his  new-found  powers  in  spreading  the  news  of  his 
recovery.  He  went  about  giving  thanks  to  the  Author  of 
this  more  abundant  life.  He  would  not  be  restrained  by 
the  counsel  of  the  Master  that  he  "  tell  no  man."  His 
joy  overflowed  the  banks  of  that  restraining  word  and  he 
went  everywhere  publishing  the  fact  of  his  cure. 

His  joyous  word  of  testimony  sounds  like  a  bit  plucked 
from  some  glad  "  Te  Deum."  "  He  hath  done  all  things 
well;  he  maketh  the  deaf  to  hear  and  the  dumb  to  speak." 
And  what  better  use  could  be  made  of  blessings  received 
than  to  make  them  at  once  widely  vocal  in  the  expression 
of  personal  gratitude,  thus  pointing  other  crippled  lives  to 
the  same  available  source  of  help? 

In  the  face  of  such  an  achievement  as  this  and  with  the 
report  of  it  being  heralded  far  and  wide  we  are  not  sur- 
prised to  read  in  the  latter  half  of  the  lesson  that  a  crowd 
surrounded  Christ,  following  him  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
hour  into  a  desert  place  where  there  was  no  food.  "  In 
those  days  the  multitude  being  very  great  and  having  noth- 
ing to  eat,  Jesus  called  his  disciples  unto  him  and  said, 
I  have  compassion  on  the  multitude  because  they  have 
now  been  with  me  three  days  and  have  nothing  to  eat. 
If  I  send  them  away  fasting  to  their  own  houses,  they  will 
faint  by  the  way  for  divers  of  them  came  from  afar." 

There  are  a  number  of  reasons  why  objection  is  raised 
to  the  credibility  of  this  narrative  of  a  repetition  of  the 
miraculous  feeding  of  a  multitude.  Many  scholars  insist 
that  it  is  a  slightly  altered  account  of  the  feeding  of  the 
five  thousand  recorded  in  a  previous  chapter  which  somehow 
found  its  way  into  the  collection  of  materials  from  which 
the  gospels  were  composed,     The  verbal  resemblances  in  the 


254  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

two  accounts  are  remarkable,  a  score  or  more  of  words  and 
expressions  being  identical  in  both.  The  miracle  is  said  to 
have  occurred  at  a  time  when  Jesus  seems  to  have  practi- 
cally closed  his  ministry  in  Galilee.  The  causes  for  the 
assembling  of  such  a  crowd  and  for  their  continuance  with 
him  for  three  days  into  a  desert  region  seem  to  be  less 
clear  in  this  connection  than  in  the  account  of  the  feeding 
of  the  five  thousand. 

Whatever  may  be  the  exact  truth  in  the  matter  —  it 
may  not  be  within  our  power  at  this  long  remove  to  ascer- 
tain —  whether  there  were  two  miracles,  one  to  satisfy  the 
needs  of  five  thousand  from  five  loaves  and  another  to 
satisfy  the  needs  of  four  thousand  from  seven  loaves,  or 
whether  the  second  narrative  grew  out  of  certain  minor 
variations  in  the  repeated  narration  of  the  original  occur- 
rence, the  more  important  spiritual  lessons  symbolized  in 
the  story  of  physical  occurrences  are  clear. 

The  ready  compassion  of  Jesus  took  account  of  the  most 
commonplace  need.  He  would  not  allow  a  hungry  crowd, 
idle  wonder-seekers  though  they  were,  to  pass  unnoticed. 
He  would  not  have  his  followers  fretted  and  forever  anxious 
regarding  the  things  they  are  to  eat  and  to  wear,  yet  he 
knew  that  we  have  need  of  all  these  things.  When  his 
disciples  counseled  him  to  "  send  the  multitude  away,"  he 
refused  to  send  them  away  fasting  lest  they  should  faint 
by  the  way.  He  threw  the  responsibility  for  meeting  that 
mass  of  need  back  upon  those  twelve  men  whom  he  had 
in  training  for  a  mighty  service.  "  They  need  not  go 
away,  give  ye  them  to  eat." 

The  disciples  were  naturally  dismayed  and  staggered  by 
such  a  demand  upon  their  ability.  "  Whence  can  a  man 
satisfy  these  men  with  bread  here  in  the  wilderness? " 
they  asked.  The  very  statement  of  the  problem  seemed 
sufficient    to    indicate    the    impossibility    of    any    solution. 


HIS   METHOD  255 

Jesus  answered,  "  How  many  loaves  have  you?  "  They 
did  not  know,  but  they  went  out  to  investigate.  Pres- 
ently they  reported  "  Seven."  They  told  him  all  they 
knew  about  that  baffling  situation  and  they  put  into  his 
hands  all  they  had  in  available  resource.  They  were  soon 
to  learn  new  lessons  as  to  the  wondrous  unfolding  of  ability 
and  the  multiplication  of  resource  which  ensues  where  men 
put  all  they  have  into  the  service  of  the  highest  they  see. 

The  disciples  were  still  in  the  primary  room  of  religious 
nurture.  They  were  just  learning  their  first  lessons  as  to 
the  reserve  power  of  their  Master  and  of  the  unrealized 
possibilities  in  every  common  situation.  It  became  the 
high  office  of  the  Master  to  instruct  them  more  perfectly 
in  the  high  privileges  of  that  relationship  they  had  come  to 
sustain.  He  would  reveal  to  them  the  latent  energies  in 
every  field  of  human  experience  where  need  must  be  met 
from  materials  apparently  inadequate.  He  would  show 
them  how  latent  energies  could  be  summoned  into  action 
and  directed  into  glorious  achievement  as  they  became  en- 
listed in  an  effective  co-operation  with  the  limitless  energy 
of  the  Eternal. 

The  ancient  story  of  the  feeding  of  a  multitude  is  soon 
told,  but  the  process  here  symbolized  of  unfolding  and 
developing  resource  in  everyday  life  when  once  the  life 
stands  pledged  to  the  service  of  the  Highest  is  inexhaustible. 

"  What  am  I?  "  you  hear  some  man  say  at  the  beginning 
of  his  Christian  life.  "  How  many  loaves  have  I,  do  you 
suppose,  all  told?"  He  does  not  know.  No  one  knows  — 
that  is  to  say,  no  one  except  the  One  who  creates  every 
man  with  undeclared,  unsuspected  powers  of  usefulness. 

The  method  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  like  the 
method  of  a  grain  of  mustard  seed.  When  the  tiny  thing  is 
sown  in  Mother  Earth,  it  seems  like  the  least  of  all  seeds. 
But  when   it   is   grown,   having   entered   into   effective   co 


256  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

operation  with  the  mighty  forces  of  earth  and  sky,  it  be- 
comes the  greatest  among  herbs.  Let  any  item  of  energy 
or  resource  be  brought  into  real  cooperation  with  the  di- 
vine purpose  and  the  possible  outcome  cannot  be  foretold. 


XLIII 
THE  TRANSFIGURATION 

Mark  9:  2-13 

When  any  man  undertakes  to  write  about  the  trans- 
figuration and  then  holds  up  his  sheet  in  the  clear  light 
which  streams  from  the  narrative  in  the  Gospels,  he  is  ready 
to  apply  to  himself  the  words  of  criticism  passed  upon 
Peter's  foolish  offer,  "  He  wist  not  what  to  say."  The  holy 
mount  is  a  place  to  feel,  to  adore,  to  aspire,  rather  than 
to  talk. 

In  all  three  of  the  synoptic  gospels  the  glorious  scene 
is  cast  directly  upon  the  dark  screen  made  by  the  reference 
of  Jesus  to  the  tragic  end  which  awaited  him.  We  see  his 
radiant  face  and  his  shining  raiment  against  the  back- 
ground of  the  cross.  He  had  been  saying,  "  The  Son  of 
Man  must  suffer  many  things  and  be  rejected  by  the  chief 
priests  and  be  killed,"  when  he  led  his  three  intimates, 
Peter  and  James  and  John  (always  these  privileged  three 
in  times  of  spiritual  crisis),  up  into  the  mountain  apart 
where  he  was  transfigured. 

"  He  led  them  up  into  a  high  mountain  apart  "  —  the 
physical  situation  conforming  to  the  leading  features  in  the 
notable  spiritual  experience  they  were  to  enjoy.  They 
were  to  stand  on  a  higher  level  of  feeling,  to  enjoy  a  nobler 
mood,  to  breathe  a  purer  air,  to  be  lifted  into  the  sense  of 
a  more  exalted  fellowship. 

Luke  tells  us  that  "  He  went  up  into  a  mountain  to 
pray,  and  as  he  prayed  the  fashion  of  his  countenance  was 
altered."     Luke  has  more  to  say  about  prayer  than  any 

257 


258  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

other  of  the  four  evangelists.  He  alone  records  the  fact  that 
"  as  Jesus  was  praying  in  a  certain  place,"  his  disciples, 
stirred  to  aspiration  by  the  sight  of  his  devotion,  said  to 
him  when  he  ceased,  "  Lord,  teach  us  to  pray."  Luke 
alone  records  the  parables  of  "  The  Friend  at  Midnight," 
"The  Unjust  Judge"  and  "The  Pharisee  and  the  Publi- 
can "  who  went  into  the  temple  to  pray,  each  one  throwing 
a  flood  of  light  upon  this  most  exalted  of  all  spiritual 
exercises. 

"As  he  prayed,  the  fashion  of  his  countenance  was  al- 
tered." With  a  few  swift  strokes  Luke  draws  a  bold  car- 
toon portraying  a  vast  spiritual  process.  The  fleshly  atoms 
of  the  human  countenance  bow  to  the  supremacy  of  the 
spirit  within.  The  dull,  sordid,  sensual  look  of  the  man 
careless  of  all  spiritual  values  is  altered  when  he  becomes  a 
man  of  prayer.  The  months  and  years  come  and  go,  but 
as  he  prays  there  comes  into  his  face  a  more  radiant  look. 

"  There  is  sometimes  in  the  face  a  solar  light  which 
rises  from  the  activity  of  the  higher  nature  when  con- 
science is  supreme."  Who  can  say  but  that  when  "  the 
higher  nature  is  put  into  full  action  that  radiant  look  might 
beam  from  the  whole  man!  "  Who  that  has  looked  into 
the  face  of  Phillips  Brooks  in  some  of  those  great  hours  in 
Trinity  Church,  Boston,  as  he  pleaded  with  men  for  their 
souls,  or  into  the  face  of  Maud  Ballington  Booth  as  she 
made  intercession  on  behalf  of  the  poor  moral  failures  in 
the  prisons,  has  not  seen  there  the  gleams  of  that  "  solar 
light  "  which  comes  by  the  supremacy  of  the  higher  nature 
within? 

It  may  be  that  our  Lord,  walking  already  in  the  shadow 
of  the  cross  and  foreseeing  the  tragic  end  of  his  beneficent 
career  on  earth,  felt  at  this  hour  an  especial  need  of  prayer. 
He  went  up  into  the  mountain  to  wait  upon  the  Father 
that  he  might  renew  his  strength.     And  there  he  dwelt  in 


HIS    METHOD  259 

the  power  of  those  high  purposes  of  self-devotement  to 
which  he  had  just  given  expression  and  in  the  ennobhng 
sense  of  an  exalted  fellow^ship  with  the  Father  until  the 
radiance  of  his  inner  life  shone  through  the  temple  of 
flesh. 

It  is  written  that  when  Moses  came  down  from  the 
mount  with  the  tables  of  the  law  in  his  hands  and  in  his 
heart  and  in  his  hope  for  Israel,  his  face  shone  so  that  the 
sordid  worshipers  of  the  golden  calf  could  not  look  upon 
him.  It  is  written  that  when  Stephen  was  on  trial  for  his 
life  before  the  Sanhedrin  and  was  permitted  to  give  a 
reason  for  the  glorious  hope  that  was  in  him,  ''  all  that  sat 
in  the  council  looking  steadfastly  on  him  saw  his  face  as 
it  had  been  the  face  of  an  angel."  It  is  written  in  the 
annals  of  age-long  and  world-wide  experience  that  when 
any  life  yields  itself  to  the  supremacy  of  the  highest  there 
comes  into  the  very  face  a  new  look  of  light  and  joy,  a 
veritable  spiritual  effulgence.  If  we  accept  the  principle 
underlying  these  facts  of  experience  and  carry  it  up  to  the 
nth  power,  may  we  not  find  at  the  summit  the  very  phe- 
nomena here  recorded  in  the  narrative  of  the  Trans- 
figuration? 

In  that  high  hour  there  came  the  sense  of  heavenly 
visitants  and  the  sound  of  a  heavenly  voice.  "  There  ap- 
peared unto  them  Moses  and  Elijah  talking  with  him." 
The  two  mysterious  presences  were  named  by  the  disciples 
"  Moses  "  and  "  Elijah  "  not  perhaps  as  the  representa- 
tives of  "  the  law  and  the  prophets  ";  they  were  so  named 
because  both  these  famous  leaders  of  Israel  had  left  the 
world  in  mysterious  fashion  and  all  devout  Hebrews  be- 
lieved that  they  would  mysteriously  reappear. 

"  And  they  spake  with  him  of  the  decease  "  —  literally 
the  "  exodus  "  —  "  which  he  should  accomplish  at  Jeru- 
salem."    The  word   is  rich  in   its  associations.     It  marked 


260  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

one  of  the  great  turning  points  in  the  history  of  Israel. 
And  so  far  had  they  already  come  under  the  power  of  the 
Christian  hope,  that  death  was  already  regarded  not  as  an 
indignity  to  be  suffered,  but  rather  an  achievement  to  be 
"accomplished";  it  was  no  more  an  "end  of  life,"  but 
an  "  exodus,"  a  going  out,  a  deliverance  from  the  bondage 
incident  to  earthly  conditions  into  the  promised  land  of 
freedom. 

And  the  same  heavenly  voice  which  at  the  baptism  made 
itself  heard  saying,  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I 
am  well  pleased  "  here  again  fell  upon  the  ears  of  the 
wondering  disciples  with  its  authoritative  credential. 
"  This  is  my  beloved  Son  —  hear  ye  him."  It  was  an 
hour  when  every  spiritual  faculty  w^as  alert  and  sensitive  — 
and  within  the  range  of  personal  consciousness  there  came 
unwonted  visions  and  voices. 

Impulsive  Peter,  feeling  that  such  high  privileges  must  not 
be  allowed  to  pass,  but  that  they  should  be  housed  and 
retained  for  permanent  enjoyment,  proposed  that  they  take 
up  their  residence  in  that  favored  spot.  "  Master,  it  is 
good  for  us  to  be  here;  let  us  make  three  tabernacles  " 
(literally  "  three  huts,"  temporary  dwelling  places),  that 
these  mysterious  visitants  might  be  induced  to  stay.  He 
would  build  one  for  Moses,  the  man  of  moral  insight,  who 
at  the  top  of  the  m.ount  saw  the  face  of  the  divine  and  the 
eternal  principles  of  right  and  wrong,  as  it  were  face  to  face. 
He  would  build  one  for  Elijah,  the  man  of  moral  energy, 
who,  in  the  face  of  a  vacillating  king  swerved  by  his 
heathen  wife  from  his  rightful  allegiance  to  Jehovah  and  in 
the  face  of  a  fickle  people  halting  between  two  opinions  as 
to  the  relative  merits  of  Jehovah  and  Baal,  stood  out 
single-handed,  winning  his  victory  there  at  Carmel.  And 
he  would  build  one  for  Jesus,  the  Man  of  moral  remedy, 
who  in  his  work  of  spiritual  recovery  would  achieve  what 


HIS   METHOD  261 

the  law  could  not  do,  who  would  not  break  the  bruised 
reed  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax  with  relentless  energy, 
but  would  gather  the  failures  into  his  affectionate  interest 
and  make  possible  for  them  a  glad  newness  of  life. 

The  impulsive  man  was  right  in  wishing  to  retain  the 
benefits  of  that  hour  of  privilege.  But  not  in  "  huts," 
were  these  blessings  to  be  housed  and  held  —  these  gains 
were  to  be  retained  in  hearts  made  fit  to  serve  as  dwelling 
places  for  the  divine.  The  experience  became  for  Peter  an 
exalted  memory  and  an  abiding  source  of  inspiration. 
"  We  were  eye  witnesses  of  his  majesty,  for  he  received 
from  God  the  Father  honor  and  glory  when  there  came  such 
a  voice  to  him,  '  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am 
well  pleased.'  And  this  voice  which  came  from  heaven  we 
heard  when  we  were  with  him  in  the  holy  mount." 

Such  hours  of  high  privilege  are  intended  for  us  all  ac- 
cording to  the  measure  of  our  receptivity.  The  narrative 
shows  us  an  enlarged  and  intensified  picture  of  spiritual 
experience  which  is  meant  to  be  representative  of  the 
privileges  open  to  all  aspiring  hearts.  We,  too,  may  go 
apart  w^ith  the  Master  of  our  souls  and  walk  with  him  on 
higher  levels.  We  may  breathe  that  upper,  purer  air. 
We  may  know  and  enjoy  the  diviner  moods.  We  may  be 
lifted  into  the  sense  of  exalted  fellowships.  And  our  own 
faces  may  be  illumined  by  the  radiant  strength  of  our  devo- 
tions. 

Some  face  may  seem  to  be  made  of  ordinary  clay.  But 
that  same  face  may  yet  see  the  day  when  it  will  shine 
like  porcelain  with  a  light  behind.  The  sense  of  a  filial 
relationship  to  the  Infinite  Father,  the  spirit  of  good  will 
toward  all  one's  fellow-beings,  and  the  keen  aspiration  for 
a  holy  life  may  be  so  real  and  strong  as  to  cause  that 
radiance  of  soul  to  shine  through  its  temple  of  flesh.  When 
men  pray,  really  and  truly  pray,  and  then  give  expression 


262  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

in  daily  conduct  to  the  highest  they  have  felt  in  their 
hours  of  devotion,  the  fashion  of  their  countenances  is  in 
like  manner  altered.  Reflecting  as  in  a  mirror  the  glory 
of  the  Lord  before  whom  they  stand  with  unveiled  hearts, 
they  too  are  changed  into  the  same  image. 


XLIV 
THE  LUNATIC  BOY 

Mark  9  :  14-29 

We  should  at  once  term  it  a  case  of  epilepsy.  "  He 
foameth  and  gnasheth  with  his  teeth."  The  malady  was 
intermittent — "  Lo,  a  spirit  taketh  him  and  he  suddenly 
crieth  out."  While  they  were  bringing  the  boy  to  Christ 
"  the  spirit  tore  him  and  he  fell  on  the  ground  and  wal- 
lowed." He  sometimes  suffered  from  one  of  these  attacks 
most  inopportunely  —  "  Ofttimes  it  hath  cast  him  into  the 
fire  and  into  the  water  to  destroy  him." 

The  malady  was  further  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  his 
mental  and  nervous  condition  bordered  upon  incipient 
insanity  as  is  not  infrequent,  and  Matthew  calls  him  "  luna- 
tic." It  was  one  of  those  grievous  cases,  full  of  mystery 
and  of  difficulty,  which  baffle  the  skill  of  eminent  spe- 
cialists to  this  hour.  We  can  sympathize  with  the  disciples 
in  their  futile  efforts  to  effect  a  cure. 

This  appeal  for  help  came  hard  upon  the  glorious  experi- 
ences on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration.  The  close  connec- 
tion of  the  two  events  is  noted  in  all  the  synoptic  Gospels 
and  it  is  significant.  The  true  splendor  of  life  at  its  best 
does  not  build  tabernacles  at  the  mountain  top  that  it 
may  dwell  securely  apart  from  the  world's  pain  and  grief. 
It  gathers  to  itself  the  full  strength  to  be  gained  in  such 
places  of  privilege  and  then  comes  down.  It  descends  from 
that  higher  level  where  it  prayed  until  its  face  shone  and 
the  soul  was  caught  up  into  the  full  enjoyment  of  exalted 
fellowship,  that  it  may  heal  the  hurts  along  the  dusty 
highway  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain. 

263 


264  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

The  appeal  was  heartfelt  —  it  was  the  voice  of  a  father 
interceding  for  his  child.  He  plead  not  for  himself  but  for 
that  other  life  for  whose  very  existence  he  was  responsible. 
His  painful  narrative  of  the  child's  sufferings  fairly  bleeds. 
When  Jesus  asked,  "  How  long  is  it  since  this  came  to  him?" 
the  stored  up  anguish  of  years  w^as  in  his  terse  reply  — 
"  Of  a  child!  " 

His  sense  of  need  was  desperate;  he  had  heard  of  the 
marvelous  cures  wrought  by  this  Man  of  Galilee,  yet  fac- 
ing the  staggering  difficulties  of  the  case,  he  is  torn  by  a 
profound  distrust.  "If  thou  canst  do  anything "  —  he 
was  uncertain  for  it  seemed  too  good  to  be  true — "if 
thou  canst  do  anything,  have  compassion  on  us  and  help 
us." 

Jesus  promptly  indicated  that  the  possibility  of  a  cure 
would  turn  upon  the  father's  own  attitude  of  heart.  The 
determining  conditions  would  be  found  there  rather  than  in 
Christ.  *' If  thou  canst  do  anything"  —  the  father  cried! 
Nay,  rather,  "If  thou  canst  believe,"  replied  the  Master! 
He  demanded  faith  as  well  as  sympathetic  interest;  he 
made  confidence  in  that  Source  of  help  to  which  all  our 
need  must  come  at  last,  the  determining  factor  in  the 
recovery  of  the  child. 

Then  the  man  brought  out  all  his  reserves  of  feeling  and 
resolve.  "  He  cried  out  and  said  with  tears,  '  Lord,  I 
believe.'"  His  heart  said  that  —  it  could  say  nothing 
else.  But  he  was  a  mature  man  —  he  had  reached  that  age 
where  we  no  longer  leap  fences  nor  leap  to  conclusions  as 
we  did  in  the  days  of  our  youth.  He  was  a  man  accus- 
tomed to  weigh  his  words  and  in  the  presence  of  difficul- 
ties so  grave  he  added  in  more  cautious  fashion  "  Help  thou 
mine  unbelief." 

What  an  accurate  picture  of  a  modern  mood  pathetically 
common!     The   heart   of   the   race   deeply   conscious   of   its 


HIS  METHOD  265 

spiritual  lack,  enraptured  with  the  commanding  visions  of 
the  Christian  gospel,  realizing  in  the  depths  of  its  own  soul 
the  final  and  ultimate  authority  of  the  Christian  ethic, 
cries,  "  Lord,  I  believe."  Then  the  cautious,  critical  in- 
telligence confronted  with  the  sobering  demands  made  upon 
its  credence  by  historical  Christianity,  unwilling  to  profess 
assent  where  full  assent  is  not  actually  existent,  adds  some- 
what reluctantly  "  Help  thou  mine  unbelief." 

The  hopeful  feature  in  the  situation  was  to  be  found  in 
the  father's  readiness  to  show  fidelity  to  an  imperfect  faith. 
He  had  not  much  faith  but  he  had  some,  and  what  he  had 
he  was  ready  to  use.  When  any  man  stands  ready  to 
pledge  what  he  has  to  the  highest  he  sees,  and  to  stake 
his  all  on  the  best  his  halting  confidence  is  able  to  affirm 
as  possible,  we  may  look  for  results.  Jesus  in  the  face  of 
such  an  appeal  to  the  Highest  rebuked  the  forces  of  evil 
which  were  oppressing  the  boy  and  "  took  him  by  the  hand 
and  Hfted  him  up  —  and  he  arose."  The  loving  and  life- 
giving  energy  of  the  Master  prevailed  where  the  feebler 
efforts  of  the  disciples  had  failed. 

When  they  were  alone  "  his  disciples  asked  him  privately. 
Why  could  not  we?  "  Jesus  answered,  "  This  kind  can 
come  forth  by  nothing  but  prayer  and  fasting."  There 
was  a  lack  of  spiritual  vitality.  "  They  had  not  been  good 
enough  to  make  their  personality  tell." 

"Why  could  not  we?"  —  in  the  narrative  contained  in 
Matthew's  Gospel  Jesus  adds,  "  Because  of  your  unbelief." 
There  was  a  want  of  personal  confidence  in  God.  The 
spiritual  energy  which  shows  itself  able  to  heal  and  to 
save  grows  not  out  of  doubts  and  denials  but  out  of  con- 
fident affirmation  and  glorious  trust.  If  they  had  pos- 
sessed even  "  a  grain  "  of  vital  faith  that  such  a  malady 
would  yield  to  the  form  of  help  they  represented,  they 
would  have  seen  mountains  of  obstacle  giving  way  before 


266  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

the  advance  of  their  trust.  They  had  seen  the  glory  of  the 
Lord  shining  Hke  the  sun  in  its  brightness,  but  down  at  the 
foot  of  that  place  of  privilege  they  had  failed  in  their 
work. 

"  What  shall  we  do  that  we  might  work  the  works  of 
God?  "  Jesus  answered,  "  This  is  the  work  of  God  that  ye 
believe."  This  was  his  steadfast  insistence.  "  If  thou 
canst  believe  —  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that  be- 
lieveth."  In  these  days  of  resolute  and  widespread  atten- 
tion, by  men  of  science  and  by  men  of  religion  alike,  to  the 
bearing  of  mental  and  spiritual  forces  upon  the  healing  of 
various  physical  disorders  we  are  but  brushing  the  surface 
of  the  hidden  depths  of  divine  help  here  suggested. 

Every  minister  who  has  worked  in  a  great  city  has  seen 
the  craving  for  liquor  in  some  defeated  life  banished 
within  an  hour  by  the  mighty  potencies  which  are 
called  into  action  by  personal  faith  in  God.  The  prom- 
ise made  of  old  under  such  different  and  untoward  condi- 
tions, "  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  shall  come  upon  thee  and 
thou  shalt  be  turned  into  another  man,"  is  receiving  abun- 
dant and  unmistakable  fulfillment  on  many  a  field  of  effort 
for  the  recovery  of  human  personality  from  its  load  of 
disordered  nerves,  of  depraved  appetities,  of  corrupted 
instincts. 

It  would  be  a  loss  unspeakable  if  "  the  social  engineer  " 
or  "  the  parochial  superintendent  "  in  his  scientific  manage- 
ment of  various  agencies  for  the  amelioration  of  outward 
conditions,  rendering  them  more  favorable  to  the  slow 
development  of  character,  should  neglect  or  discount  the 
power  of  the  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  in  immediate  per- 
sonal regeneration.  The  intelligent,  confident,  winsome 
offer  of  this  ineffable  privilege  to  every  bafffed  and  broken 
life  is  indispensable  to  human  progress. 

The  Master's  service  was  personal  —  he  did  not  suggest 


HIS   METHOD  267 

the  appointment  of  a  "  Commission  on  Epilepsy."  He  did 
not  wait  for  the  establishment  of  thoroughly  equipped 
institutions.  "  He  took  him  by  the  hand  and  lifted  him 
up  —  and  he  arose."  The  final  symbol  of  humane  service 
is  the  extended  hand,  open,  friendly,  ready  to  lift.  It  can 
never  be  superseded  by  institutional  methods. 

The  Master  honored  and  utilized  a  halting,  imperfect 
faith.  He  helped  the  unbelief  entangled  with  a  bit  of 
genuine  confidence  into  something  better.  "  If  you  have  a 
bud  on  your  rosebush  that  you  want  should  blossom,  the 
last  device  you  would  think  of  resorting  to  would  be  to 
detach  the  bud  from  the  stalk  and  toss  it  into  the  air. 
And  yet  that  is  precisely  what  hosts  of  young  people  are 
doing  today  who  are  questioning  —  which  is  perfectly 
proper  —  but  nipping  the  fiber  of  connection  which  would 
unite  what  they  do  doubt  with  what  they  do  not  doubt. 
Buds  of  doubt  do  not  blossom  and  become  conviction," 
says  Dr.  Charles  H.  Parkhurst,  "  when  separated  from  the 
live  stock  of  assurance." 

The  Master  brought  out  the  fact  that  human  incapacity 
to  overcome  the  ills  and  hurts  of  society  is  due  not  so 
much  to  the  lack  of  technique  as  to  the  lack  of  genuine- 
ness and  thoroughness  in  the  inner  life.  If  any  man  would 
cast  out  devils  he  must  by  devotion  and  self-denial  first 
cast  the  devils  out  of  himself.  Only  then  will  he  become 
competent  to  take  needy  lives  and  lift  them  up. 

The  Master  made  plain  the  fact  that  every  hour  of  high 
privilege  must  speedily  find  expression  for  that  which  has 
been  gained  in  some  form  of  humane  service.  It  would  re- 
main barren  and  dishonored  were  it  to  build  itself  taber- 
nacles of  retreat  where  it  might  meditate  upon  the  glories 
of  past  dispensations  and  upon  the  joys  of  personal  en- 
richment in  forgetfulness  of  the  lives  torn  and  wretched  in 
the  plain  below.     It  is  for  privileged  lives  to  take  the  un- 


268  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

privileged  by  the  hand,  by  the  mind  and  by  the  heart  in 
the  direct  clasp  of  personal  sympathy  and  lift  them  up. 

The  social  settlement  inspired  and  sustained  from  some 
center  of  religious  devotion,  the  summer  camp  for  needy 
children  made  possible  by  the  gifts  and  the  personal  devo- 
tion of  those  who  have  seen  the  radiant  face  of  Christ, 
the  outdoor  sanitariums  for  tubercular  patients  from  the 
crowded  warrens  of  the  poor  in  our  great  cities,  all  of  them 
showing  the  word  of  Christian  brotherhood  made  flesh 
and  dwelling  among  us  full  of  grace  and  truth,  are  visible 
projections  of  the  glory  of  worship  and  communion  into 
patient,  lowly  forms  of  unselfish  service. 

When  Jesus  had  healed  the  child  and  delivered  him  sound 
and  sane  to  his  father,  "  they  were  all  amazed  at  the 
Majesty  of  God."  The  confident  assertion  of  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  sovereign  grace  and  good  will  of  the  Unseen  over 
human  ills  was  indeed  majestic! 


XLV 
THE  RIGHT  USE  OF  THE  SABBATH 
Luke  13  :  10-17 ;    14:1-6 

"  He  was  teaching  in  one  of  the  synagogues  on  the  Sab- 
bath " —  and  there  came  the  opportunity  for  service.  It 
was  his  custom.  He  was  found  in  the  place  of  worship 
habitually.  We  read  again  and  again  how  this  custom 
brought  him  face  to  face  with  the  human  need  which  had 
come  to  be  near  the  source  of  divine  help. 

When  Peter  and  John  went  to  the  Temple  to  pray  they 
found  at  the  gate  called  "Beautiful"  a  cripple  laid  there 
daily  to  ask  help  from  those  who  entered  into  the  Temple. 
Human  need  just  over  the  threshold  from  the  whole  sys- 
tem of  divine  help  represented  by  the  Temple!  And  on 
that  occasion  the  faith  and  the  sympathy  of  Peter  were 
sufficient  to  lift  that  bit  of  need  over  the  threshold  into  a 
full  realization  of  God's  healing  power.  The  lame  man  was 
presently  "  walking  and  leaping  and  praising  God  in  the 
Temple." 

There  in  the  synagogue  where  Jesus  taught  "  was  a 
woman  who  had  a  spirit  of  infirmity  eighteen  years.  She 
was  bowed  together  and  could  in  nowise  lift  herself  up." 
Without  more  careful  diagnosis  we  would  say  that  she  was 
either  paralyzed  or  had  some  spinal  trouble.  In  that  earlier 
time  when  nervous  maladies  were  even  more  mysterious 
than  they  are  with  us,  the  simple  people  attributed  her 
inability  to  the  presence  of  some  malevolent  spirit  within. 
They  believed  that  a  "  spirit  of  infirmity  "  had  twisted  the 
poor  woman  out  of  shape  so  that  she  could  not  lift  herself 
up. 

269 


270  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

She  had  suffered  in  this  way  for  eighteen  years.  Eight- 
een years  is  a  long  time  for  those  who  are  active,  but  to 
a  woman  who  is  sick  the  time  seems  endless.  She  could 
scarcely  remember  the  day  when  she  walked  down  street 
with  the  ease  and  grace  of  healthy  womanhood.  The  long 
drawn-out  illness  had  twisted  her  spirit  until  it  also  was  awry. 

"  When  Jesus  saw  her,  he  called  her  to  him."  His  own 
sympathetic  soul  made  instant  response  to  the  appeal  of 
need.  And  the  woman  came,  creeping  and  hobbling  as 
best  she  could,  for  human  need  with  a  kind  of  clairvoyance 
heard  in  his  tones  that  note  of  hope  which  caused  it  to 
respond. 

When  she  was  near  to  him,  he  said:  "  Thou  art  loosed 
from  thine  infirmity.  And  he  laid  his  hands  on  her  and 
immediately  she  was  made  straight."  What  a  splendid 
deed  of  mercy!  How  the  synagogue  would  feel  itself  hon- 
ored in  being  made  the  scene  of  such  a  work  of  recovery! 
How  the  worshipers  there  assembled  on  the  Sabbath  would 
rejoice  in  witnessing  such  a  signal  expression  of  the  divine 
love! 

Alas,  no!  There  are  eyes  in  which  ritual  is  more  beauti- 
ful than  mercy.  There  are  noses,  keen  and  sharp,  to  which 
burnt  offerings  are  more  fragrant  than  deeds  of  love.  There 
are  natures  which  find  more  joy  in  the  detailed  observance 
of  a  system  than  in  all  the  unselfish  ministry  of  affection. 

"  The  ruler  of  the  synagogue  "  —  the  head  man  in  the 
church  —  "  answered  with  indignation  because  Jesus  had 
healed  on  the  Sabbath."  He  said  to  the  people  (and  we 
can  hear  the  hiss  of  bigotry  and  hatred  when  we  read  his 
words  aloud),  "  There  are  six  days  in  which  men  ought  to 
work  —  in  them  therefore  come  and  be  healed  and  not  on 
the  Sabbath."  It  seems  incredible,  yet  there  it  is  in  black 
and  white  —  in  black  rather  for  there  is  nothing  white 
about  it. 


HIS   METHOD  271 

The  woman  was  "loosed  from  her  infirmity"!  What  is 
the  day  for  but  for  loosing?  The  weary  toiler  is  "  loosed  " 
from  the  ordinary  grind  that  he  may  straighten  up  and  see 
life  in  truer  perspective.  The  factory  hand  is  "  loosed  " 
from  his  machine  that  he  may  take  his  place  among  his 
loved  ones  at  home  for  twenty-four  hours  together  and 
realize  that  he  is  not  a  "  hand,"  but  a  brain,  a  heart,  a 
soul.  The  mind  is  "  loosed  "  from  the  shallow  puddles  of 
interest  in  which  of  necessity  it  must  oftentimes  employ 
itself  for  six  days  that  it  may  drink  from  the  deep,  sweet 
wells  of  genuine  literature  and  find  its  needs  refreshed. 
The  whole  workaday  world  is  "  loosed  "  from  the  pressing 
necessity  of  striving  to  make  a  living,  that  in  places  of 
instruction,  of  worship  and  of  aspiration  it  may  take 
thought  concerning  the  vaster  interest  of  making  a  life. 
The  Lord  is  in  his  holy  temple  loosing  his  children  from 
those  disabilities  which  bow  them  down  —  let  all  the  earth 
give  thanks  before  him! 

"  She  was  made  straight  and  glorified  God."  The  day 
was  ordained  for  just  that.  Remember  the  Sabbath  Day 
and  keep  it  sacred  to  the  high  task  of  making  men  straight. 
When  their  backs  are  bent  by  remorseless  toil  let  the  day 
of  rest  cause  them  to  stand  up  straight  where  the  ceiling 
is  high  and  no  soul  need  stoop.  When  the  lower  levels  of 
experience  have  left  in  the  inner  life  many  a  kink,  let  men 
come  on  the  Sabbath  into  the  presence  of  those  ideals  and 
principles,  those  moods  and  aspirations,  which  cause  the 
best  within  us  to  stand  straight,  adding  a  full  cubit  to  its 
stature.  When  the  mind  is  bent  awry  and  twisted  into 
ugly  deformity  by  false  views  of  life  spread  before  us  in 
newspapers,  or  thrust  upon  us  in  the  scramble  for  gain,  or 
imposed  upon  us  like  ill-fitting  garments  by  the  conventions 
of  a  thoughtless  society,  let  it  be  bent  back  into  normal 
shape  by  finer  forms  of  instruction  and  fellowship  on  this  day. 


272  THE   MASTER'S   WAY 

The  attitude  of  the  synagogue-ruler  was  so  unreasonable 
and  inhuman  that  the  Lord  exclaimed:  "Thou  hypocrite! 
Doth  not  each  of  you  on  the  Sabbath  loose  his  ox  or  his 
ass  from  the  stall  and  lead  him  to  water?  Ought  not  this 
woman,  a  daughter  of  Abraham  (in  contrast  to  the  dumb 
beast),  bound  these  eighteen  years,  be  loosed  from  her 
bond  on  the  Sabbath?  " 

Humane  considerations  take  precedence  over  the  demands 
of  ritual  observance.  The  night  after  the  earthquake  in 
San  Francisco  twenty-six  babies  were  born  in  the  parks  to 
which  the  people  had  been  driven  by  the  fire.  The  little 
outfits  lovingly  prepared  by  the  hands  of  affection  in  joy- 
ous anticipation  were  all  destroyed  by  the  flames.  And  to 
provide  for  the  needs  of  these  children  and  of  their  anxious 
mothers  twenty  sewing  machines  were  running  all  day  the 
following  Sunday  in  the  prayer-meeting  room  of  the  First 
Congregational  Church  of  Oakland.  When  I  looked  in 
upon  the  busy  scene  where  a  score  of  Christian  women  were 
unselfishly  fashioning  the  dainty  garments,  I  felt  that  the 
One  who  said,  "  I  was  naked  and  ye  clothed  me,"  would 
feel  that  the  day  had  never  been  more  sacredly  honored  in 
that  place  of  prayer. 

In  the  other  passage  here  offered  for  our  study  the 
minister  who  had  taught  and  healed  in  the  synagogue  is 
invited  to  share  the  Sunday  dinner  with  one  of  the  leading 
church  members.  "  He  went  into  the  house  of  one  of  the 
chief  Pharisees  to  eat  bread  on  the  Sabbath  —  and  they 
watched  him." 

Here  again  need  found  him  —  "  there  was  a  certain  man 
before  him  who  had  the  dropsy."  When  a  magnet  is  drawn 
through  sand  where  there  is  a  sprinkling  of  iron  filings,  it 
gathers  them  all  to  itself.  When  the  Master  of  compassion 
moved  among  the  multitudes  who  thronged  him,  he  drew 
to  himself  the  appeal  of  need  and  the  touch  of  faith. 


HIS   METHOD  273 

When  Jesus  asked  the  lawyers  and  Pharisees  present, 
"Is  it  lawful  to  heal  on  the  Sabbath?  "  they  held  their 
peace.  They  were  sullen  in  the  face  of  this  radiant  mercy 
which  so  far  transcended  their  dull,  cold  piety.  They  were 
dumb  and  unresponsive  as  stone  walls  when  their  hearts 
should  have  leaped  at  this  manifestation  of  a  higher  truth 
regarding  Sabbath  observance.  But  all  undeterred  by  their 
want  of  sympathy,  Jesus  "  healed  the  man  and  let  him  go." 

To  show  the  further  absurdity  and  cruelty  of  their 
position,  he  added,  "  Which  of  you  shall  have  an  ass  fallen 
into  a  pit  and  Vv^ill  not  straightway  pull  him  out  on  the 
Sabbath?  "  The  claims  of  common  humanity  have  the  right 
of  way,  sidetracking  all  those  minor  requirements  contained 
in  the  letter  of  the  law  because  "  the  Sabbath  was  made 
for  man  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath." 

The  illustration  of  the  unfortunate  ass  need  not  be 
pressed  on  all  fours.  In  one  of  our  Christian  colleges  a 
sophomore  was  found  studying  on  Sunday.  This  was 
contrary  to  the  usage  of  the  institution.  The  professor 
who  had  chanced  upon  him  remonstrated  with  him.  But 
the  student  replied,  "  We  have  a  stiff  examination  coming 
tomorrow  and  I  am  not  ready  for  it.  The  Bible  allows  a 
man  to  pull  his  ass  out  of  the  pit  on  the  Sabbath  Day  — 
how  much  more  permissible,  then,  would  be  the  effort  of 
the  ass  to  pull  himself  out." 

It  may  be  seriously  questioned  whether  the  real  work  of 
education  is  advanced  by  studying  on  Sunday.  The  men 
who  crossed  the  plains  to  California  after  the  discovery  of 
gold  in  1849  found  that  the  observance  of  one  rest  day  in 
seven  was  expedient  as  well  as  godly.  The  men  who  rested 
their  ox  teams  and  their  horses  on  Sunday  reached  the 
Golden  Gate  ahead  of  those  who  had  driven  straight 
through  without  a  break  and  their  animals  were  in  much 
better   condition   for   the   steadily  recurring   truce   of  God. 


274  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

There  is  good  reason  for  believing  that  students  who  set 
apart  the  Sabbath  for  interests  and  activities  more  directly 
spiritual  will  likewise  make  a  steadier  advance  toward  the 
golden  key  of  Phi  Beta  Kappa. 

The  letter  may  kill  the  meaning  of  the  day  for  pietistic 
Pharisees,  but  the  spirit  of  rightful  observance  will  make 
the  human  race  more  truly  alive.  Let  the  day  be  used  for 
loosing,  for  straightening,  for  healing  those  lives  which  are 
bound,  twisted  and  weakened  by  the  rough  experiences  of 
the  other  six  days. 


XLVI 
LESSONS  BY  THE  WAY 
Luke  13  :  18-35 

Here  we  have  a  collection,  not  a  series,  of  sayings  taken 
from  the  lips  of  our  Lord!  His  teaching  for  the  most  part 
was  occasional  rather  than  systematic.  He  was  in  the  best 
sense  an  "  opportunist  "  responding  to  the  need  of  the  hour. 
He  stood  at  a  wide  remove  from  that  orderly,  methodical, 
symmetrical  style  of  teaching  to  be  found  in  universities. 
In  these  passages  we  find  "  lessons  by  the  way." 

In  the  first  we  have  the  grouping  of  two  parables  which 
should  always  be  considered  together.  "  To  what  is  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  like?  It  is  like  a  grain  of  mustard 
seed.  It  is  like  leaven."  They  both  proclaim  the  fact  and 
the  law  of  growth.  They  both  illustrate  the  growth  of 
His  Kingdom  from  insignificant  beginnings  into  a  moral 
empire  which  would  cover  the  earth.  But  they  do  it  with 
a  difference. 

The  development  of  the  mustard  seed  into  a  tree  large 
enough  for  birds  to  lodge  in  shows  the  organized,  external 
and  visible  growth  of  those  influences  and  institutions  which 
have  to  do  with  the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom.  The 
parable  of  the  leaven  shows  the  subtle,  invisible  energies 
working  beneath  the  surface  to  permeate  and  transform 
human  society  as  with  a  new  principle  of  life. 

In  the  one  case  the  spread  of  the  Kingdom  was  like  the 
work  of  the  tiny  seed  as  it  grew  into  a  splendid  plant  with 
roots,  trunk,  branches  and  leaves,  symbolizing  in  visible 
terms  the  work  wrought  by  men  on  behalf  of  the  truth  in 

275 


276  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

organized  fashion.  In  the  other  the  Kingdom  grew  as  if 
the  deft  hand  of  a  woman  had  hidden  a  bit  of  yeast  in 
three  measures  of  meal.  The  work  was  done  out  of  sight 
by  the  power  of  that  subtle  spiritual  contagion  where  one 
life  communicates  of  its  best  to  its  fellow,  it  scarce  knows 
how.  Both  of  these  methods  of  work  are  necessary  for  the 
perfect  accomplishment  of  that  aspiration  expressed  when 
we  say,  "  Thy  Kingdom  come  —  thy  will  be  done  on  earth." 

We  are  not  to  estimate  forces  by  their  outward  bulk  — 
we  are  to  appraise  them  according  to  their  genuine  vitality. 
The  size  of  the  force  may  be  like  a  grain  of  mustard  seed 
which  is  the  least  of  seeds  or  like  the  tiny  bacilli  of  the 
leaven,  yet  the  result  may  be  of  commanding  importance. 

"  What  are  you  doing?  "  the  Sunday  school  teacher  is 
asked  as  he  sits  with  a  group  of  boys  in  quiet  converse. 
"  I  am  sowing  seed,"  he  replies  as  he  drops  here  an  ideal, 
there  a  principle,  yonder  an  illuminating  illustration,  further 
on  a  direct  word  of  appeal.  He  is  sowing  seed  in  that 
eager  soil  known  as  "  boy  life."  When  he  has  gone  to  his 
reward  another  generation  may  see  stately,  productive 
trees  of  righteousness  growing  in  the  midst  of  the  street 
where  the  tides  of  civic  and  commercial  life  flow  swiftly. 
These  sturdy  trees  of  righteousness  came  into  being  as  a 
result  of  that  early  planting  of  good  seed. 

"  What  are  you  doing?  "  som.e  member  of  society  who 
makes  a  business  of  living  a  quiet,  unobtrusive  but  potent 
life  of  Christian  devotion,  is  asked.  "  I  am  putting  my  bit 
of  leaven  into  the  lump  of  life,"  is  the  reply.  And  when 
the  people  of  that  community  find  the  whole  section  of 
human  interest  touched  by  that  woman's  influence  made 
more  palatable,  more  wholesome,  more  nourishing,  through 
the  leavening  power  of  her  fine  quality  of  soul,  her  word 
is  fulfilled. 

The  greatest  need  in  the  world  today  is  not  so  much  for 


HIS  METHOD  277 

a  change  in  the  outward  structure  of  our  social  institutions 
as  for  the  leavening  influence  of  a  new  spirit  within.  It 
will  matter  little  whether  we  are  living  under  a  competitive 
system  or  a  collective  system,  under  a  capitalist  regime  or 
under  a  socialistic  regime,  if  we  still  remain  selfish  and 
grasping.  In  that  event  the  big  dogs  will  get  the  best 
bones  under  either  system  and  the  small  dogs  will  take  what 
is  left. 

In  the  second  passage  Jesus  was  "  teaching  his  way 
through  cities  and  villages,  journeying  on  toward  Jeru- 
salem," when  one  said  to  him,  "  Lord,  are  there  few  that  be 
saved?  "  He  may  have  been  a  man  of  idle  curiosity, 
merely  desirous  of  an  estimate  upon  the  final  population 
of  the  upper  and  of  the  under  world  when  the  processes  of 
redemption  had  been  fully  wrought  out.  He  may  have 
been  one  of  those  men  who  are  always  eager  to  engage  in 
a  discussion  touching  intricate  theological  puzzles.  He 
may,  however,  have  been  one  of  the  many  who  carry 
burdens  on  their  hearts.  They  are  asking  in  the  face  of 
these  searching  requirements  of  Christian  standards,  "  Who, 
then,  can  be  saved?  "  They  are  wondering,  not  so  much 
about  their  own  possible  fate,  as  touching  the  interests  of 
some  of  the  dear  dead  who  have  passed  out  of  this  life 
without  having  met  anything  like  the  full  demands  of  an 
evangelical  repentance  and  conversion.  When  we  listen 
closely  we  can  almost  detect  a  wistful,  sympathetic  note 
in  this  serious  question  —  "  Are  there  few  that  be 
saved?  " 

If  it  were  so,  as  a  majority  of  the  theologians  of  former 
days  taught  with  vigor  and  rigor,  would  He  not  have  said 
so?  Had  the  answer  to  that  question  been  a  plain,  "  Yes, 
only  a  few  ";  and  had  that  view  been  "  essential  to  moral- 
ity," then  surely,  as  Canon  Farrar  insisted  in  his  famous 
sermons    in    Westminster    Abbey    on    "  Eternal    Hope,"   it 


278  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

would  have  been  worse  than  dangerous,  it  would  have  been 
wicked  to  withhold  that  fact. 

"  But  what  is  the  answer  of  divine  wisdom?  Is  it  some 
glaring  agony  of  fire  and  brimstone  for  billions  of  years? 
No  —  it  is  a  refusal  to  answer.  It  is  a  strong  warning  to 
the  questioner.  It  is  a  tacit  rebuke  of  the  very  question. 
It  is  the  pointing  to  a  strait  gate  and  a  narrow  way  where- 
by alone  we  can  enter  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

The  silences  of  Scripture  no  less  than  the  utterances  are 
to  be  regarded.  And  the  principle  of  wise  reserve  here 
maintained  by  our  Lord  might  well  have  been  imitated  by 
some  of  those  fiery  preachers  who  have  undertaken  to  be 
wise  beyond  what  is  known. 

The  coarse  terrorism  indulged  in  by  an  earlier  dogma- 
tism at  once  fierce  and  narrow  did  not  in  the  long  run  make 
for  righteousness.  If  we  should  write  over  against  the 
names  of  those  who  were  impelled  to  a  life  of  obedience  by 
the  threats  of  coming  penalty,  the  names  of  those  other 
souls  who  were  repelled  by  the  unreason  and  injustice  oft 
embodied  in  such  appeals,  it  may  be  doubted  if  the  state- 
ment of  account  would  show  any  balance  to  the  credit  of 
such  teaching. 

We  can  scarcely  realize  today  that  only  a  few  years  ago 
a  great  and  honored  missionary  organization  was  almost 
disrupted  by  the  reluctance  of  certain  candidates  for  the 
foreign  field  to  make  dogmatic  affirmation  on  this  point. 
But  it  was  found  that  the  appointment  of  those  Andover 
graduates  did  not  "  cut  the  nerve  of  missions."  And  today 
the  largest  contribution  received  from  any  one  church  for 
that  Missionary  Board  comes  from  a  church  which  has 
been  fed  for  thirty  years  upon  the  higher  forms  of  idealism 
connected  with  the  work  of  foreign  missions  rather  than 
upon  the  cruder  notion  of  rescue  from  endless,  fiery 
penalty. 


HIS   METHOD  279 

But  along  with  his  principle  of  reserve  there  is  the 
utmost  seriousness  in  the  reply  of  Jesus:  ''  Strive  to  enter 
in  at  the  strait  gate.  Many  will  seek  to  enter  and  will  not 
be  able."  There  v/ould  be  cases  of  moral  indecision  which 
would  finally  pass  beyond  remedy.  The  master  of  the^ 
house  would  have  shut  the  door,  not  because  of  any 
arbitrary  attitude  within  —  the  words  indicate  rather  that 
persistence  in  evil  which  becomes  determining  as  to  the 
future  of  the  soul. 

There  would  come  men  insisting  upon  their  having  been 
in  familiar  contact  with  Christian  institutions  —  "We  have 
eaten  in  thy  presence  and  thou  hast  taught  in  our  streets  " 
—  and  therefore  claiming  admission  to  the  Kingdom  only 
to  be  refused  for  lack  of  vital  godliness.  There  would  be 
"  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth  "  when  such  souls  saw  the 
saints  of  old  in  the  Kingdom  and  themselves  thrust  out. 
The  seriousness  and  the  reserve  are  equally  manifest  in 
the  reply  of  Jesus  to  his  questioner.  There  is  no  light- 
hearted  assumption  that  because  God  is  so  good,  all  men 
will  be  saved.  There  is  that  reserve  which  would  under- 
take no  estimate  as  to  the  proportion  of  those  who  would 
finally  be  lost. 

The  third  passage  contains  the  message  to  Herod  and 
the  broken-hearted  Lament  over  the  city  of  Jerusalem. 
The  wicked  Tetrarch  sought  to  frighten  Jesus  out  of  his 
jurisdiction  by  a  threat  to  kill  him.  But  the  Master  was 
not  deflected  from  his  course  because  the  wicked  imagined 
a  vain  thing.  "  Go  tell  that  fox,"  he  said  in  bold  arraign- 
ment of  his  crafty,  cruel  nature,  "  that  I  cast  out  devils 
today  and  do  cures  tomorrow  and  the  third  day  I  shall  be 
perfected."  He  came  to  do  the  will  of  One  who  sent  him 
and  he  shared  in  the  serenity  of  the  Eternal. 

Then  turning  toward  Jerusalem,  which  had  "  killed  its 
prophets  and  stoned  "  its  benefactors,  in  solemn  anticipa- 


280  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

tion  of  its  tragic  refusal  of  his  own  overtures  of  mercy,  he 
utters  that  word  which  is  Hke  an  infinite  sob. 

The  tender  brooding  of  his  spirit  of  compassion  over 
that  city  which  had  shown  itself  so  hateful  and  repellent 
would  serve  as  a  fitting  prelude  to  that  prayer  of  pity  and 
of  hope  which  he  uttered  on  behalf  of  the  wicked  men  who 
were  torturing  him  upon  the  cross.  "  O  Jerusalem,  how 
often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  together  as  a 
hen  gathereth  her  brood  under  her  wings  and  ye  would 
not!  Ye  would  not!  Your  house  is  left  unto  you  desolate!" 
And  in  that  sad  hour  when  he  thus  uttered  his  moral  an- 
guish over  the  city  that  he  loved,  his  own  great  heart  was 
desolate! 


XLVII 

FOUR  STRAIGHT  WORDS 

Luke  17  : 1-10 

Here  are  four  balls  sent  right  over  the  plate!  The  evil  of 
causing  others  to  sin  —  "  It  is  impossible  but  that  offenses 
will  come  but  woe  unto  him  through  whom  they  come." 
The  duty  of  forgiveness  —  "  If  thy  brother  trespass  against 
thee,  rebuke  him;  if  he  repent,  forgive  him."  The  energy 
of  faith  —  "  If  ye  had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  ye 
might  say  to  this  tree,  *  Be  thou  rooted  up  and  planted  in 
the  sea.'  "  The  outstanding  obligation  to  fulfill  one's 
plain  duty  —  "When  ye  have  done  all  those  things  which 
are  commanded,  ye  have  done  only  that  which  it  was  your 
duty  to  do." 

The  Master  frankly  faced  the  fact  that  through  the 
wrong  exercise  of  human  freedom  evil  is  inevitable.  With 
all  his  brave  optimism  he  never  indulged  in  any  intellectual 
shuffling  or  in  any  of  those  literary  flourishes  which  would 
assert  that  "  there  is  no  such  thing  as  sin,  sickness,  disease 
or  death,  except  as  an  illusion  of  mortal  mind."  He  stood 
ever  with  his  feet  firmly  planted  on  fact.  "  It  is  impossible 
but  that  offenses  will  come." 

But  the  steady  emergence  of  evil  did  not  blind  his  eyes 
to  the  culpability  of  those  who  made  themselves  responsible 
for  it.  We  can  do  otherwise  —  therefore  we  must.  "  Woe 
to  him  by  whom  the  offense  cometh."  It  were  better  for 
him  to  have  a  millstone  hanged  about  his  neck  and  be 
cast  into  the  sea  than  to  become  responsible  for  the  moral 
lapse  of  a  single  soul. 

281 


282  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

We  cannot  escape  the  law  of  moral  solidarity  any  more 
than  matter  can  escape  the  power  of  gravitation  knitting 
all  the  heavenly  bodies  into  a  universe.  We  are  members 
one  of  another,  whether  we  like  it  or  not.  If  one  man 
sins,  other  men  are  encouraged  to  sin  with  him.  If  one 
man  is  a  saint,  the  whole  moral  level  of  that  section  of 
society  where  his  influence  counts  receives  a  friendly  lift. 
Woe  to  that  man  who  vitiates  the  moral  atmosphere  about 
him  by  low  aims,  meager  ideals,  petty  aspirations  which 
never  rise  above  the  tree-tops!  Blessed  is  that  man,  the 
outbreathing  of  whose  soul  helps  to  clear  the  air! 

"  If  thy  brother  sin,  rebuke  him;  if  he  repent,  forgive 
him!  "  The  ministry  of  forgiveness  and  restoration  is  to 
be  close  linked  with  that  of  opposition  and  warning.  The 
hot-lipped  censor  forever  engaged  in  denouncing  other 
men's  sins  has  need  to  read  the  verse  clear  through.  The 
high  task  imposed  by  Christ  is  not  half  performed  when 
one  has  simply  uttered  his  telling  rebuke  in  the  face  of 
wrong.  The  work  of  binding  up  the  heart  broken  by  sin 
and  of  setting  at  liberty  the  will  bruised  by  evildoing  still 
remains. 

If  I  should  state  openly  my  own  estimate  upon  the  power 
of  absolution  and  of  moral  recovery  resident  in  human 
sympathy  you  might  not  believe  me.  You  might  feel  that 
I  was  extravagant.  Let  me  quote  One  whom  you  will 
believe!  "Whose  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted;  and 
whose  sins  ye  retain  they  are  retained.  Whatsoever  ye 
shall  bind  on  earth,  shall  be  bound  in  heaven;  and  whatso- 
ever ye  loose  on  earth,  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven." 

Jesus  said  that.  He  said  it  to  flesh  and  blood.  He 
was  not  entrusting  to  those  eleven  faulty  men  any  ofificial 
prerogative  like  "  the  power  of  the  keys."  He  was  address- 
ing them  as  representatives  of  Cfrristian  society.  Let  the 
Christian  element  in  society  —  or   ''  The   Beloved  Commu- 


HIS   METHOD  283 

nity,"  as  Professor  Royce  would  say  —  become  careless  and 
harsh  in  its  attitudes,  binding  men  and  women  in  their  sins 
by  its  swift  condemnation,  and  those  sins  which  are  bound 
on  earth  become  bound  in  the  realm  of  moral  permanence! 
Let  the  Christian  element  in  society,  with  that  fine  insight 
for  better  things  which  comes  by  the  exercise  of  genuine 
sympathy,  loose  those  souls  from  their  sins,  and  what  is 
loosed  on  earth  is  loosed  in  the  realm  of  moral  permanence! 
There  is  a  mighty  power  of  moral  absolution  not  official, 
but  personal,  attaching  to  the  right  exercise  of  human 
sympathy. 

The  statute  of  limitations  is  not  to  operate  against  it. 
"If  he  sin  seven  times  in  the  day  and  seven  times  repent, 
thou  shalt  forgive."  The  number  "  seven  "  was  the  Jew- 
ish number  for  completeness.  Let  the  forgiveness  be  com- 
plete in  quality,  wiping  the  slate  clean  with  no  harking 
back  to  rake  up  old  scores!  Let  the  forgiveness  be  com- 
plete in  quantity  —  repeat  it  indefinitely  until  the  need  for 
it  shall  have  been  fully  met. 

"  Have  faith  in  God!  "  What  a  mighty  form  of  energy 
is  here  suggested!  The  men  of  science  are  speaking  these 
days  of  energy  stored  in  one  particle  of  Radium  sufficient  to 
lift  five  hundred  tons  of  pig  iron  and  carry  it  a  mile. 
Here  is  the  Master  of  the  Ages  speaking  of  a  tremendous 
energy  resident  in  a  form  of  power  subtler  and  mightier 
than  Radium.  "  If  ye  had  faith  as  a  grain  of  mustard 
seed,  you  might  root  up  trees  with  a  word  and  cast  them 
into  the  sea." 

In  our  less  highly  colored  method  of  speech  we  would 
have  said  that  even  a  slender  amount  of  faith  may  ac- 
complish great  results.  The  Oriental  lives  nearer  the  sun. 
He  speaks  habitually  of  the  camel  and  the  needle's  eye,  of 
the  finger  of  God  casting  out  the  devils  of  nervous  disease, 
of   the  seed-like   faith   rooting  up  trees  and   hurling  them 


284  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

into  the  ocean.  The  truth  is  the  same  whatever  robes 
it  wears. 

The  world  is  entering  into  a  truer  appreciation  of  those 
energies  which  are  suggested  by  the  word  "  faith."  The 
steady  utilization  of  mental  and  spiritual  forces  in  the  secur- 
ing and  maintenance  of  a  fuller  measure  of  physical  health 
is  everywhere.  The  minds  of  men  are  being  directed  afresh 
to  forms  of  power  invisible.  The  X-rays  shining  through 
flesh  and  coat  sleeve,  through  thick  book  or  barn  door  if 
need  be,  revealing  plainly  that  which  heretofore  has  been 
hidden  from  men's  eyes,  tell  us  of  more  forms  of  light  than 
our  philosophy  had  dreamed  of.  The  wireless  telegraphy 
enabling  the  ships  to  whisper  to  each  other  across  the  sea, 
has  shown  us  that  the  simple  air  we  breathe  has  in  it 
potencies  hitherto  unsuspected  ready  to  become  the  useful 
servants  of  intelligence. 

In  a  hundred  ways  the  unseen  has  come  to  have  a  hold 
upon  the  interest,  the  imagination  and  the  activities  of 
men  scarcely  equalled  in  those  days  of  a  simple  credulity 
which  peopled  the  air  with  friendly  spirits  or  with  threaten- 
ing hobgoblins.  The  fact  that  growing  knowledge  has  again 
and  again  rebuked  the  dogmatism  which  would  deny  all 
efficacy  to  faith  and  prayer  (believing  in  its  narrow  igno- 
rance that  the  returns  were  all  in  when  once  material  sub- 
stance had  been  weighed  on  hay  scales) ,  has  aided  in  making 
our  age  more  responsive  to  the  claims  of  faith. 

"  Why  could  not  we  cast  it  out?  "  the  disciples  asked. 
Jesus  answered,  "  Because  of  your  unbelief."  "  There  is 
no  uncertainty  in  the  diagnosis,"  says  Dr.  Jowett.  "  The 
cause  is  not  complicated.  It  is  single  and  simple.  There 
had  been  a  want  of  confidence.  There  was  doubt  at  the 
very  heart  of  the  disciple's  effort.  There  was  a  cold  fear 
at  the  very  core  of  his  enterprise.  Because  of  your  un- 
belief." 


HIS   METHOD  285 

Power  comes  not  through  the  ability  to  make  critical 
denials,  but  through  the  ability  to  make  positive  affirma- 
tions by  faith.  We  can  scarcely  set  a  limit  to  it.  The 
words  about  the  tree  are  figurative,  but  their  content  is 
not  one  whit  too  strong.  I  have  a  friend  here  in  New 
Haven  whose  appetite  for  liquor  piled  mountain  high  by 
years  of  sinful,  intemperate  indulgence,  was  rooted  up  and 
cast  into  the  sea  in  an  hour  by  the  energy  of  his  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ.  From  that  day  to  this  he  has  been  living 
not  only  a  sober  life,  but  living  without  that  wretched 
craving  which  once  sent  him  reeling  from  saloon  to  saloon 
until  it  cast  him  into  the  gutter.  He  tells  everybody  the 
glad  story  of  his  salvation  through  faith  in  Christ.  He  is 
giving  his  life  of  devoted  Christian  service  to  the  recovery 
of  other  men  possessed  by  the  same  devil  which  once  held 
him  fast.  Have  faith  in  God  —  all  things  are  possible  to 
him  who  believes! 

The  Master  then  indicated  the  clear  obligation  resting 
upon  every  man  to  do  that  which  it  is  his  duty  to  do  with- 
out pluming  himself  upon  it  afterward.  In  his  picture  of 
the  "  unprofitable  servant  "  he  draws  a  contrast  between 
the  spirit  of  a  servant  and  the  spirit  of  a  son.  The  servant 
did  what  he  was  paid  to  do,  neither  receiving  nor  deserv- 
ing any  overflowing  measure  of  thanks.  The  son  recognized 
the  identity  of  his  interests  with  those  of  the  One  who  says, 
"  All  that  I  have  is  thine."  He  was  ready  to  go  the  second 
mile,  giving  generously  of  his  strength  and  causing  his 
righteousness  to  exceed  the  righteousness  of  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees. 

No  man's  performance  can  ever  exceed  his  duty  because 
it  is  every  man's  duty  to  do  his  best.  The  uncalculating, 
overflowing  spontaneity  of  service  stands  within  that  higher 
obligation  felt  by  the  one  who  has  risen  above  the  demands 
contracted  for  by  the  letter  into  the  more  exacting  liberty 


286  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

of  the  spirit.  He  is  no  longer  a  servant  but  a  son.  He 
does  that  which  it  is  his  joy  to  do. 

The  theory  of  a  treasury  of  surplus  merit  heaped  up  by 
"  deeds  of  supererogation  "  performed  by  saints,  was  only 
a  device  of  ecclesiastical  tricksters.  They  were  always 
ready  to  trade  in  spiritual  "  futures,"  offering  them  in 
blocks  for  cash  down.  The  whole  scheme  was  a  cruel 
imposition  upon  the  credulous  heart  hungry  for  an  as- 
surance of  divine  mercy.  When  the  saints  have  done  their 
best,  they  have  only  done  that  which  it  was  their  duty 
to  do. 

The  work  of  Jesus  and  of  Paul  was  done  so  thoroughly 
that  most  of  us  can  scarcely  realize  the  necessity  which 
once  existed  for  replacing  the  legalism  of  a  measured  and 
sharply  defined  service  by  the  glad  sense  of  freedom  and  of 
filial  participation  in  the  vast  enterprises  of  our  Heavenly 
Father. 


XLVIII 

THE  GRATEFUL  SAMARITAN 

Luke  17  :  11-19 

How  the  approach  of  Christ  called  out  human  need! 
He  sat  at  meat  in  Simon's  house  and  the  woman  whose 
sins  were  many  was  drawn  to  his  feet  seeking  forgiveness. 
He  entered  Jericho  and  the  man  who  was  a  sinner  was 
waiting  for  him  in  a  sycamore  tree  as  if  dimly  conscious 
that  salvation  might  **  pass  that  way."  It  was  noised 
about  that  he  was  in  a  certain  house  and  "  straightway 
all  the  city  was  gathered  at  the  door  "  bringing  "  many 
that  were  sick  with  divers  diseases."  He  was  robed  in 
helpfulness,  so  that  the  hem  of  his  garment  invited  the 
touch  of  need. 

"  He  was  passing  between  Samaria  and  Galilee  and  as  he 
entered  a  certain  village  there  met  him  ten  men  who  were 
lepers."  Nine  of  them  were  Jews  and  one  a  Samaritan. 
There  on  the  frontier  between  Galilee  and  Samaria  a  com- 
mon malady  had  broken  down  race  prejudice.  Misery 
loves  company  —  in  its  desperation  almost  any  company! 
Leprous  Jews  had  dealings  with  leprous  Samaritans. 

Ten  of  them  —  and  all  lepers!  It  was  a  gruesome  sight. 
Lepers  are  loathsome  to  the  eyes.  They  are  compelled 
by  law  to  shout  at  the  approach  of  any  one,  "  Unclean,  un- 
clean! "  Eye  and  ear  and  sense  of  smell  are  all  offended  in 
their  approach  —  and  no  one  would  touch  them.  No  one 
save  the  One  who  showed  himself  the  friend  of  the  friend- 
less, the  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners,  the  friend  of 
heretics  and  of  lepers!     It  is  recorded  by  Luke  (who  as  a 

287 


288  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

physician  felt  the  full  force  of  it)  that  "  Jesus  put  forth 
his  hand  and  touched  a  leper  saying,  Be  thou  clean." 
The  men  who  saw  it  never  forgot  the  thrill  which  went 
through  them  when  they  saw  the  clean  hand  of  health 
touch  the  foul  body  of  disease.  They  caused  it  to  be  writ- 
ten for  our  instruction. 

Jesus  felt  the  same  intelligent,  sympathetic  interest  in 
disease  that  a  physician  feels.  He  did  not  go  about  shrink- 
ing and  shuddering  in  the  presence  of  human  need  —  he 
stretched  out  his  hand  to  help.  "  The  whole,"  as  they 
proudly  called  themselves  not  knowing  their  own  needs, 
had  less  interest  for  him  than  the  sick.  He  came  not 
to  call  "  the  righteous,"  but  sinners  to  newness  of  life. 
He  was  a  Good  Shepherd,  and  he  counted  it  an  honor  that 
"  he  was  sent  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the  house  of  Israel." 
He  was  neither  frightened  nor  repelled  by  lepers. 

The  lepers  "  stood  afar  off  "  as  they  were  compelled  to 
do  by  law.  They  consequently  "  lifted  up  their  voices  " 
to  make  their  piteous  appeal  heard.  "  Jesus,  Master,  have 
mercy  on  us."  Their  forlorn  and  friendless  condition,  the 
despair  written  on  their  faces,  the  deep  gulf  which  their 
malady  had  dug  between  them  and  all  they  held  dear, 
would  plead  like  angels  with  him  who  came  to  make  men 
whole. 

"  When  he  saw  them  he  said,  Go  show  yourselves  to  the 
priests."  His  words  mean  little  to  us  until  they  are  inter- 
preted, but  they  were  like  an  Emancipation  Proclamation 
to  those  slaves  of  disease.  In  that  old  theocracy,  the 
priests  served  as  a  Board  of  Health.  They  laid  the  ban 
and  posted  the  notices  touching  cases  of  contagious  disease. 
They  were  empowered  to  issue  certificates  indicating  that 
the  quarantine  had  been  lifted. 

"  Go  show  yourselves  to  the  priests! "  It  was  like  a 
bugle  note  summoning  the  poor  lepers  to  a  feast  of  hope. 


HIS   METHOD  289 

Go  and  get  your  clean  bill  of  health!  Go  and  have  your- 
selves officially  registered  and  certified  as  healthy  men! 

What  a  word  to  fall  upon  their  ears!  Away  they  went, 
for  he  spoke  as  one  having  authority!  Tainted  they  were 
from  head  to  foot,  but  in  high  confidence  they  leaped  to  the 
task  of  securing  those  certificates  which  would  pronounce 
them  well.  The  drowning  man  catches  at  a  straw  and  the 
ten  lepers  in  their  desperation  were  ready  to  act  instantly 
upon  the  word  of  sympathy,  of  kindliness  and  of  hope 
which  fell  from  the  lips  of  this  Friend  of  need. 

"  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  they  went  they  were  cleansed." 
As  they  obeyed,  the  blessing  came.  The  cure  did  not  come 
at  the  word  of  Christ  before  they  started  to  show  them- 
selves to  the  priests.  The  cure  did  not  come  at  the  mo- 
ment when  they  were  to  claim  from  the  hands  of  those 
officials  the  bill  of  health.  It  came  somewhere  along  the 
road.     "  As  they  went,  they  were  cleansed." 

This  is  the  common  method.  The  young  Christian 
stands  up  with  some  misgivings  to  confess  Christ  and  unite 
with  the  Church.  During  the  early  months  of  that  profes- 
sion of  faith  he  walks  with  hesitation  in  the  way  of  serv- 
ice. But  as  he  walks  he  sees  what  the  obedience  of  faith 
is  accomplishing  in  his  life.  The  signs  of  new  spiritual 
vigor  appear.  Prayer  is  less  a  duty  and  more  of  a  privi- 
lege. The  work  of  the  Church  in  Christianizing  society 
shines  in  his  eyes  as  a  splendid  opportunity.  God's 
statutes  have  become  his  songs.  He  made  his  start  in  faith 
and  he  finds  himself  richly  blessed  along  the  way.  "Not 
in  the  great  hour  of  one's  petition,  but  as  he  trudges  along 
the  dusty  road  of  life  the  blessing  comes  "  and  the  load  of 
pain  or  of  sin  drops  away. 

One  of  the  ten  "  when  he  saw  that  he  was  healed, 
turned  back  and  fell  down  at  Jesus'  feet  giving  him  thanks." 
Only  one  out  of  ten!     How  sharper  than  a  serpent's  tooth 


290  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

it  is!  The  other  nine  were  more  intent  upon  the  bills  of 
health  than  upon  showing  their  gratitude  to  the  author  of 
their  wellbeing. 

The  nine  men  could  not  have  been  entirely  without 
gratitude  —  that  would  make  them  monsters  of  wickedness. 
But  they  did  not  give  thanks  openly  and  audibly.  They 
may  have  been  singing  and  making  melody  in  their  hearts, 
but  they  did  not  add  a  single  note  of  praise  to  the  great 
doxology  of  thanksgiving  rising  from  a  multitude  of  grateful 
hearts.  They  were,  like  so  many  worshipers  in  the  modern 
church,  "  silent  partners  "  in  the  work  of  praise. 

God  cares  for  gratitude  —  and  for  the  open  expression 
of  it.  Every  one  cares!  When  the  slightest  courtesy  is 
shown  a  woman,  if  she  be  also  a  lady,  she  will  instantly 
acknowledge  it  by  her  "Thank  you."  Where  the  service 
rendered  is  greater,  the  gratitude  felt  and  expressed  will  be 
correspondingly  great. 

The  Master  expected  gratitude.  He  was  hurt  by  the 
absence  of  any  open  expression  of  it.  "  Where  are  the 
nine?  "  he  asked.  Where  indeed!  They  had  been  blessed 
unspeakably  and  they  had  not  the  decency  to  come  back 
and  say  "Thank  you."  The  Master  repeatedly  showed  his 
interest  in  good  manners.  He  rebuked  Simon  the  Phari- 
see for  his  boorishness  when  he  omitted  the  common  courte- 
sies after  he  had  asked  Jesus  to  eat  meat  with  him.  He 
told  the  disciples  to  shake  the  dust  off  their  feet  in  leaving 
a  city  which  had  insolently  refused  their  message  —  they 
were  to  assert  and  maintain  the  dignity  of  their  calling. 
Here  he  censures  the  ill-bred  men  who  failed  to  express 
their  appreciation  of  favors  received.  "  Where  are  the 
nine?  " 

One  came  back  to  give  thanks,  "  and  he  was  a  Samari- 
tan." The  only  one  who  showed  his  gratitude  was  a  here- 
tic.   The    Master    praised    him    and    gave    him    an  added 


HIS  METHOD  291 

blessing.  "  Go  thy  way  —  thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole." 
The  grateful  man  bore  with  him  in  his  heart  a  further 
certification  to  his  wellbeing,  spiritual  as  well  as  physical, 
which  the  titled  priests  would  have  been  powerless  to 
bestow. 

"  And  he  was  a  Samaritan!  "  How  readily  the  eyes  of 
the  Master  looked  across  the  little  fences  of  sectarian 
prejudice  which  small  men  build  to  shut  them  off  from  their 
fellows!  His  banner  man  in  humane  service  was  a  "  good 
Samaritan."  He  stood  for  an  hour  at  a  public  well  im- 
parting some  of  the  noblest  truths  he  uttered  to  a  some- 
what disreputable  "  woman  of  Samaria."  He  said  openly 
that  there  were  "  publicans  and  harlots  "  who  having  made 
an  about  face  had  brighter  spiritual  prospects  than  those 
who  counted  themselves  the  successors  of  Abraham  and 
Isaac  and  Jacob. 

When  we  open  the  heart  in  giving  thanks  for  blessings 
received,  we  offer  the  Lord  an  opportunity  to  let  fall 
another  blessing  into  our  lives.  And  it  always  comes! 
The  open  door  of  a  grateful  heart  invites  an  endless  pro- 
cession of  divine  blessings. 

May  not  the  thankless  habit  and  the  lack  of  readiness  to 
express  in  devoted  service  our  gratitude  to  God  for  signal 
blessings  explain  why  there  are  not  more  answers  to  our 
appeals?  Ten  men  cry,  "  Jesus,  Master,  have  mercy  on 
us."  Then  with  the  warm  results  of  his  answering  mercy 
coursing  through  their  veins  nine  of  the  ten  crowd  ahead 
into  the  thick  of  human  activity  forgetting  to  give  thanks 
and  glorify  God  by  newness  of  life. 

Where  are  those  nine  men  who  on  their  sick  beds  vowed 
that  if  God  would  spare  their  lives,  they  would  give  them- 
selves to  Christian  service?  Where  are  the  nine  hundred 
in  every  community  who  enjoy  the  benefits  of  having 
Christian  churches   open    and    active,  share    in    the  moral 


292  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

atmosphere  those  churches  help  to  create,  rejoice  in  the 
humane  and  charitable  work  they  do,  profit  by  the  stability 
and  protection  they  afford  to  all  commercial  and  social 
interests,  yet  fail  to  glorify  the  God  of  those  churches  by 
honest,  consistent  membership  in  some  one  of  them? 
Where  are  the  nine  thousand  who  live  under  the  stimulus 
and  culture  of  a  Christian  civilization,  in  constant  indebted- 
ness to  the  colleges,  paintings,  music  and  literature  in- 
spired and  wrought  out  by  the  force  of  Christian  motive, 
yet  fail  to  give  Christ,  the  Master  and  Leader  in  all  these 
benefits,  the  gratitude  of  a  devoted  life? 


BOOK  III 
THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM 


XLIX 

THE  PARABLE  OF  THE  SOIL 

Mark  4  : 1-20 

We  call  it  oftentimes  "  the  parable  of  the  Sower,"  but 
the  attention  is  concentrated  not  upon  the  action  of  the 
sower  but  upon  the  varying  reactions  secured  from  the  soil 
where  the  seed  fell.  The  same  good  seed  fell  from  the 
hand  of  the  same  faithful  sower,  but  because  some  fell 
here  and  some  there,  the  outcome  varied.  It  would  be 
more  fitting  then  to  call  it  frankly  "  the  parable  of  the 
soil." 

The  passage  indicates  on  the  face  of  it  and  in  the  in- 
terpretation given  it  a  moment  later  by  the  Master  himself 
the  diverse  results  secured  where  divine  agencies  acted 
upon  diverse  conditions  of  mind  and  heart.  Here  no  result 
was  secured;  there  a  result  temporary;  further  on  a  result 
promising  at  first  but  defeated  by  adverse  influence;  and 
even  where  conditions  favored,  the  result  varied  in  genuine 
fruitfulness,  yielding  sometimes  thirty,  sometimes  sixty, 
now  and  then  a  hundredfold. 

The  parable  shows  how  the  results  achieved  by  the 
truth  and  grace  of  God  as  they  fall  upon  the  hearts  of  men 
are  affected  by  the  conditions  they  find  awaiting  their  ac- 
tion. It  is  a  parable  of  environment,  showing  how  out- 
ward conditions  count  for  or  against  the  action  of  even  so 
potent  an  influence  as  "  the  Word."  May  we  not  give 
the  parable  an  even  wider  application  and  think  of  it  as 
the  great  parable  of  environment? 

Jesus  was  not  a  teacher  of  sociology  —  he  was  a  teacher  of 
religion.     But  he  was  too  wise  to  ignore  the  influence  of 

295 


296  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

environment.  He  knew  that  where  the  environment  of  any- 
life  is  hard  or  thin  or  overcrowded  with  hostile  influences, 
the  product  of  the  life  cast  into  such  a  situation  must  be 
in  some  measure  influenced. 

"  Whenever  Jesus  spoke  he  found  four  kinds  of  hearers  — 
the  stolid  hearer,  the  sentimental  hearer,  the  sordid  hearer, 
the  sincere  hearer."  In  "  the  stolid  man  "  the  soil  was 
hard;  in  "  the  sentimental  man  "  it  was  shallow;  in  "  the 
sordid  man "  it  was  overgrown  with  the  cares  of  this 
world;  and  in  "the  sincere  man"  it  was  good  enough  to 
insure  a  harvest. 

In  all  our  work  we  find  in  corresponding  fashion  the 
four  kinds  of  environment  conditioning  the  response  to  be 
secured.  We  have  first  the  hard  environment.  There  may 
be  in  such  a  situation  an  abundance  of  genuine  worth 
but  it  offers  no  openings  to  the  approaching  life  enabling 
it  to  gain  what  it  needs.  The  trodden  path  across  the 
field  has  untold  depths  of  fertile  soil  beneath  it  perchance, 
but  the  seed  cast  on  that  hard  spot  finds  that  fertility 
crusted  over  with  an  unresponsive  surface  rendering  it  of 
no  avail. 

The  place  of  toil  where  honest  wages  are  paid,  reasona- 
ble hours  observed,  sanitary  conditions  maintained  but 
with  no  sense  of  pride  or  joy  on  the  part  of  the  workers 
in  their  work,  with  no  clear  chance  of  zest  and  relish  in 
the  associated  effort,  with  no  spirit  of  kindly  good  will  find- 
ing expression  in  the  organization  of  that  industry,  becomes 
an  economic  environment  unrewarding  in  the  higher  values. 
The  soil  is  reliable  in  quality  —  it  would  make  a  good 
showing  under  physical  analysis  —  but  it  is  hard. 

The  home  where  the  steady  generosity  of  the  father  and 
the  wise  management  of  the  mother  provide  every  physical 
comfort  and  all  the  needed  facilities  for  mental  growth 
may  be  lacking  in  sympathy,  in  the  fine  sense  of  comrade- 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         297 

ship,  in  the  good  cheer  and  spontaneity  which  belong  to 
home  life  at  its  best.  It  then  becomes  a  disappointing 
environment.  The  texture  of  this  setting  for  the  life  may 
be  as  worthy,  as  beautiful,  as  polished  and  as  unresponsive 
as  mahogany.  The  very  elegance  of  an  unsympathetic  en- 
vironment "takes  away"  the  finer  impulse  and  "it  be- 
comes unfruitful." 

Here  also  was  the  soil  of  life  which  is  thin  and  shallow. 
It  was  not  hard  like  a  concrete  pavement  where  no  sort  of 
seed  would  have  a  chance  to  grow.  It  was  only  too  invit- 
ing and  receptive.  But  it  was  superficial;  it  had  no  re- 
serve power;  it  had  no  deeper  resource  upon  which  to 
draw;  its  possibilities  therefore  were  quickly  enjoyed  to  the 
full  and  as  quickly  exhausted. 

There  are  stores  which  put  all  their  fine  goods  in  the 
front  window  —  they  are  only  four  feet  deep.  When  a 
customer  goes  to  the  counter  to  make  purchases  it  is  a  dis- 
appointing quest.  The  store  has  no  reserve  power,  no 
hidden  resources  to  be  developed  and  revealed.  It  may 
interest  the  careless  passer-by  "  for  a  time,"  but  his  interest 
soon  "  withers  away." 

There  are  situations  into  which  the  life  may  be  cast 
which  at  once  offer  a  superficial  form  of  satisfaction.  But 
the  advantages  are  all  on  the  surface.  It  is  impossible 
for  a  sturdy  life  to  take  deep  root  or  to  draw  upon  re- 
sources of  help  which  will  endure.  It  is  an  environment 
which  responds  to  the  approach  of  life  quickly,  and  as 
quickly  confesses  its  exhaustion.  The  scorching  rays  of  a 
hot  sun  or  the  opposing  influences  of  tribulation  or  persecu- 
tion cause  the  life  fed  upon  this  meager  source  of  supply 
to  fail.  It  has  not  "  the  depth  of  earth  "  needed  to  offer 
facilities  for  that  deep-rooted  life  which  shall  become  like  a 
tree  planted  by  the  river  of  water  bringing  forth  fruit  in 
its  season  and  leaves  that  never  wither.       • 


298  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

There  are  other  forms  of  environment  which  are  already 
overcrowded  with  useless  and  noxious  growths.  The  soil 
is  rich  and  deep  —  if  it  were  only  clean  it  would  offer  a 
splendid  opportunity  for  a  fruitful  life.  But  the  seeds  of 
evil  have  been  sown  in  it.  The  tares  and  the  thorns  have 
pre-empted  the  best  of  the  fertile  forces  and  the  life  cast 
there  is  robbed  of  its  chance. 

What  a  picture  of  the  modern  city!  The  forms  of  ex- 
ternal stimulus  are  innumerable;  the  forces  which  act  upon 
the  life  of  the  individual  powerful ;  the  depth  of  resource  which 
comes  by  the  massing  of  energy  in  this  highly  complex  life 
seems  all  but  inexhaustible;  the  chance  for  social  contact 
is  bewildering  in  its  richness;  the  ministry  of  dramatic 
presentation,  of  beauty,  of  melody  and  harmony  is  steady 
and  abundant.  The  kings  of  the  earth  bring  their  glory 
and  their  honor  into  the  city  whose  walls  are  great  and 
high. 

But  for  thousands  of  city  dwellers  "  the  cares  of  this 
world,  the  deceitfulness  of  riches  and  the  lusts  of  other 
things  "  choke  the  life  and  it  becomes  unfruitful.  In  this 
rich  soil  debasing  forms  of  social  contact,  degrading  forms 
of  art  and  dramatic  appeal,  the  ruthless  beat  of  economic 
forces,  the  corrupting  and  the  maddening  appeal  of  showy 
luxury,  all  register  upon  the  weaker  lives  cast  there  an 
impress  which  makes  powerfully  against  a  satisfying  har- 
vest of  moral  results.  The  soil  is  thick,  deep,  black  loam, 
but  the  thorns  and  the  briars  which  it  sustains  war  against 
the  finest  of  the  wheat.  The  real  harvest  fails  for  lack  of 
room, 

The  scramble  of  competing  interests  in  the  overcrowded 
environment  becomes  as  deadly  to  the  best  results  as  the 
meagerness  of  the  soil  which  is  too  thin.  There  are  souls 
in  all  our  cities  going  down  in  defeat  under  this  pressure. 
They  meant  to  be  thoughtful,  unselfish  and  devout,  but 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         299 

somehow  they  did  not  seem  to  find  time  and  place  for  the 
quiet  cultivation  of  these  enduring  values.  The  world 
was  too  much  with  them  soon  and  late,  and  the  final  yield 
became  a  bitter  and  lasting  disappointment. 

But  there  are  lives  which  in  wholesome  environments 
find  themselves  as  seed  cast  into  good  ground  —  "they 
bring  forth  fruit,"  some  thirtyfold,  some  sixty  and  some  a 
hundred.  The  story  of  the  reaction  here  is  one  of  a 
mounting  success  as  the  varying  vigor  of  each  life  secures 
from  the  friendly  and  co-operating  forces  into  which  it  is 
cast  its  own  proportionate  response.  Here  the  seed  has  the 
soil  to  itself  unhindered  by  an  overmastering  opposition 
and  it  grows  to  splendid  maturity. 

The  seed  cast  into  good  ground  found  its  own  life  princi- 
ple in  active,  promising  co-operation  with  those  universal 
forces,  the  warmth  of  the  sun,  the  quickening  influence  of 
rain  and  dew,  the  germinating  energy  of  the  soil  itself,  and 
by  this  aggregation  of  energy  the  rich  harvest  was  won. 

The  life  of  a  man  cast  into  a  fitting  environment,  on  a 
college  campus,  in  some  place  of  employ  where  other  books 
are  kept  beside  the  cash-book  showing  entries  of  higher 
values,  in  some  home  where  sympathetic  understanding  and 
loyal  affection  bear  rule,  in  some  community  of  friendly 
neighbors,  in  a  church  set  for  the  worship  of  the  Father 
and  the  nurture  of  his  children,  finds  itself  speedily  taken 
up  into  the  grasp  of  forces  beneficent  and  dynamic  beyond 
all  estimate.  And  because  the  conditions  of  a  harvest 
have  been  rightly  met  God  gives  the  increase  of  all  those 
qualities  which  feed  and  gladden  the  needy  life  of  the  race. 

The  confidence  of  the  individual  or  of  society  in  the 
power  of  personal  initiative  and  in  the  strength  of  human 
will  need  not  blind  us  to  the  potent  influence  of  environ- 
ment. It  is  the  business  of  society  by  wise  sanitation,  by 
abundant  facilities  for  education,  by  competent  and  effec- 


300  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

tive  legislation  to  make  the  environment  of  every  life  as 
favorable  as  may  be.  The  fate  of  the  seed  in  this  passage 
as  determined  by  the  soil  where  it  fell  prefigures  the  fate  of 
the  soul  which  suffers  defeat  where  the  soil  is  hard  or  thin 
or  crowded  with  evil  growths.  Let  the  soil  be  made  deep 
and  rich  and  clean,  so  far  as  human  energy  and  ingenuity 
may  effect  that  end!  Then  each  life  will  have  its  clear 
chance  for  growth  and  fruitfulness. 

In  these  days  of  social  surveys,  of  weighty  emphasis 
upon  "  conditions,"  of  studied  insistence  upon  "  the  eco- 
nomic interpretation  of  history,"  we  are  not  in  danger  of 
forgetting  the  truth  of  this  parable.  The  power  of  the  soil 
does  not  exhaust  the  account  of  determining  influences  — 
even  the  Son  of  Man  who  taught  as  never  man  taught  did 
not  undertake  to  say  everything  at  once.  We  find  that 
He  at  once  set  alongside  this  parable  of  environment 
another  parable  supplementing  the  teaching.  When  we 
turn  the  leaf  we  find  the  story  of  "  The  Wheat  and  the 
Tares."  But  a  mighty  truth  is  here  contained,  a  truth 
which  those  who  most  exalt  the  power  of  personal  regen- 
eration must  ever  bear  in  mind. 


THE  WHEAT  AND  THE  TARES 

Matt.  13  :  24-30;  36-43 

The  Master  was  no  impossible  idealist.  He  lived  with 
his  head  among  the  stars  but  his  feet  were  placed  on  the 
solid  earth.  He  was  initiating  a  world-wide,  enduring 
religious  movement  and  he  could  not  set  the  standards 
low.  They  must  be  exacting  and,  for  years  to  come,  out  of 
reach  in  order  to  be  effective.  The  aspirations  of  men  must 
be  made  to  say,  "  It  is  high  —  we  cannot  attain  unto  it." 

But  he  understood  also  that  he  must  build  his  Kingdom 
out  of  human  beings,  not  out  of  angels.  He  must  commit 
the  keeping  of  the  movement  into  the  hands  of  flesh  and 
blood.  The  very  enlistment  of  followers  with  their  inevita- 
ble limitations  would  involve  the  use  of  much  material 
which  would  not  be  ideal.  He  wisely  prepared  us  for  all 
this  in  such  passages  as  the  one  before  us. 

You  may  sow  the  good  seed  of  Christian  truth  with  all 
care  and  zeal  but  the  soil  is  such  that  three-fourths  of  it 
may  fail  by  reason  of  the  hardness,  the  shallowness,  the 
preoccupation  it  encounters.  You  may  sow  the  best  seed 
to  be  had  in  good  soil,  but  while  you  are  enjoying  your 
innocent  sleep  the  enemy  may  come  and  sow  tares.  You 
find  when  you  awake,  to  your  consternation  and  disap- 
pointment, that  the  crop  will  be  mixed.  You  may  cast 
your  net  ever  so  wisely  into  the  sea  and  draw  it  with  a 
steady  hand,  but  even  so,  the  net  will  enclose  and  retain 
the  noxious  and  useless  along  with  the  good  and  wholesome 
fish. 

301 


302  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

The  great  moral  movements  of  history  show  this  ming- 
ling of  varied  elements.  Marcus  Aurelius  was  one  of  the 
purest  of  men,  leaving  utterances  which  the  world  grate- 
fully prints  with  its  classics,  yet  he  persecuted  the  Chris- 
tians more  relentlessly  than  did  the  wicked  Nero.  John 
Calvin  left  a  profound  impress  for  good  upon  his  age,  yet 
he  burned  Servetus.  George  Washington  was  the  worthy 
and  beloved  Father  of  his  country,  yet  he  kept  slaves. 
The  Puritans  of  New  England  made  a  magnificent  con- 
tribution to  the  growth  of  civil  liberty,  to  the  cause  of 
education  and  to  the  advance  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  but 
they  harried  the  life  out  of  old  women  whom  they  regarded 
as  witches. 

Turn  where  you  will,  there  are  knots  in  the  log!  It  will 
not  split  just  straight.  The  Master  said  that  the  sacred 
efficiency  of  our  best  forces  would  be  hindered  by  these 
admixtures  of  evil.  If  men  are  to  raise  wheat  at  all  they 
must  do  it  in  fields  where  v/eeds  grow.  If  they  are  to 
fish  with  nets  the  sculpin  and  the  dogfish  will  come  along 
with  the  haddock  and  the  bluefish.  The  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  is  like  that,  Jesus  said  —  the  very  agencies  which 
God  has  raised  up  for  the  world's  redemption  are  modified 
by  the  presence  of  hurtful  elements  mingled  with  the 
good. 

This  parable  of  the  wheat  and  the  tares  does  not  en- 
courage complacency  in  the  presence  of  evil.  The  man 
might  be  compelled  to  sow  his  seed  in  a  field  where  tares 
would  grow  but  he  could  go  to  his  work  with  clean  hands 
and  a  pure  heart  carrying  nothing  but  good  seed.  He 
might  be  compelled  to  unite  with  an  imperfect  church  — 
there  is  no  other  sort,  and  a  dull  tool  is  better  than  none  — 
but  he  could  at  least  strive  to  raise  the  average  of  right 
living  in  that  group.  The  willingness  to  let  tares  grow  with 
the  wheat  did  not  spring  from  any  leniency  toward  noxious 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE   KINGDOM         303 

weeds  —  they  simply  could  not  be  rooted  out  as  yet  with- 
out imperiling  the  life  of  the  wheat. 

We  have  here  offered  us  no  final  solution  of  the  problem 
of  evil.  The  questions  of  speculative  philosophy  did  not 
come  in  for  direct  and  systematic  treatment  from  Christ. 
But  he  differentiated  the  evil  sharply  from  the  good.  It 
was  not  "good  in  the  making";  it  was  no  part  of  the 
original  endowment  of  human  nature  as  it  lay  in  the  divine 
purpose.  "  An  enemiy  hath  done  this."  The  task  of 
winning  personal  character  and  of  building  the  perfect 
order  must  be  carried  forward  in  the  face  of  opposition. 
How  we  shall  picture  "  the  enemy,"  with  or  without  horns 
and  hoofs;  how  we  shall  give  him  philosophical  standing 
within  our  metaphysics,  is  a  problem  left  to  the  individual 
thinker  to  wrestle  with  as  best  he  may. 

The  tares  and  the  wheat  grew  in  the  same  place,  utilizing 
the  same  benign  influences,  the  warmth  of  the  sun,  the 
moisture  of  rain  and  dew  and  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  to 
produce  results  here  useful  and  there  hurtful.  The  love 
of  money  is  a  root  of  all  manner  of  evil,  but  it  also  awak- 
ens some  of  the  most  wholesome  and  honorable  ambi- 
tions known.  The  mysterious  attraction  which  one  sex 
has  for  the  other  leads  to  the  foulest  vices  and  crimes  and 
it  also  lies  at  the  foundation  of  the  fairest  institution  we 
possess.  Where  the  soil  is  rich  the  growth  will  be  abun- 
dant—  whether  it  be  full  of  worth  or  full  of  hurt  depends 
upon  the  quality  of  the  life  principle. 

The  wheat  and  the  tares  looked  alike  as  they  grew 
together,  and  for  a  time  equally  attractive.  If  evil  were 
always  foul  and  hideous  in  its  aspect  it  would  be  more 
easily  detected  and  refused.  But  the  tares  are  not  always 
"  monsters  of  such  frightful  mien  as  to  be  hated  need 
but  to  be  seen."  They  come  often  in  such  fair  form  that 
we  first  admire  and  then  desire  and  then  embrace. 


304  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

"  The  woman  saw  that  the  tree  was  good  for  food  and 
that  it  was  pleasant  to  the  eyes."  There  was  no  handsomer 
tree  in  the  garden.  It  is  both  inexpedient  and  inaccurate 
always  to  picture  sin  as  loathsome  and  repellent — evil 
owes  its  power  to  the  fact  that  in  its  springtime  and  in 
ours  it  may  seem  as  fair  as  some  rightful  element  in  life. 
"  All  sins  have  blue  eyes  and  dimples  when  they  are 
young."  We  wait  for  the  advancing  season  and  the  ap- 
proach of  harvest  to  detect  the  essential  difference  be- 
tween the  wheat  worthy  of  the  garner  and  the  worthless 
darnel  destined  for  the  burning. 

"  The  field  is  the  world,"  Jesus  said.  The  place  where 
the  good  seed  of  religious  truth  is  to  be  put  down  beneath 
the  surface  and  made  to  grow  is  not  some  holy  corner  in 
this  life  of  ours  fenced  off  and  walled  in  from  the  rest  of 
this  common  earth.  The  tired  life  of  the  race  may  enter 
such  a  place  of  privilege  to  renew  its  strength,  washing 
itself  clean  in  a  baptism  of  divine  help  and  feeding  upon  that 
nourishment  which  issues  from  the  Unseen,  but  it  lives  its 
real  life  out  in  the  open.  The  world  where  men  buy  and 
sell,  employ  and  are  employed,  struggle,  sin,  suffer  and  die, 
this  is  the  sphere  of  action  for  real  religion.  "  The  field 
is  the  world,"  for  this  wider  range  of  human  interest  is  the 
only  area  which  can  furnish  adequate  material  for  that 
full  development  of  the  type  of  religious  growth  the  Master 
had  in  mind.  And  in  this  vast  complexity  of  interest  and 
action  the  good  and  the  bad  elements  are  mingled  in  a 
bewildering  confusion. 

"  Let  both  grow  together  until  the  harvest!  "  It  is 
impossible  either  by  rigorous  ecclesiastical  discipline  or  by 
drastic  legal  reforms  to  purge  the  church  and  the  state  of 
those  hindering  and  hurtful  growths  which  militate  against 
an  abundant  harvest.  Let  both  grow  together  not  because 
we  are  indifferent  to  the  evil  growth  but  because  the  instant 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         305 

destruction  of  it  would  imperil  valued  interests.  The  fire- 
brands more  intent  on  burning  the  tares  before  the  hour 
has  come  for  that  judgment  than  upon  raising  wheat 
become  themselves  the  enemies  of  the  harvest.  The 
odium  of  carrying  a  certain  measure  of  unsound  teaching 
in  the  church  or  a  certain  measure  of  unconsecrated  ad- 
herents or  even  the  burden  of  unworthy  practice  on  the 
part  of  some  is  an  evil  less  serious  than  would  be  the  loss 
which  would  result  from  an  effort  to  immediately  cast  out 
all  that  is  unworthy.  Let  both  grow  —  there  is  a  wise 
patience  which  is  both  humane  and  statesmanlike. 

But  this  entanglement  of  good  and  evil  is  not  to  be 
permanent.  The  day  of  separation  which  God  has  within 
his  own  power  and  purpose  is  on  the  way.  In  the  con- 
summation of  the  age  the  things  which  offend  shall  be 
removed.  "  The  Son  of  Man  shall  send  forth  his  angels 
and  they  shall  gather  out  of  his  Kingdom  all  things  that 
oflfend  and  them  which  do  iniquity  and  shall  cast  them  into 
a  furnace  of  fire."  However  we  may  indicate  our  under- 
standing of  the  moral  equivalents  of  the  various  items  in 
this  pictured  program,  it  would  seem  as  easy  to  make 
black  seem  white  or  white  black,  as  to  intimate  that  the 
Master  meant  something  other  than  a  most  somber  fate 
for  evil.  He  warns  us  against  that  persistence  in  evil 
which  may  pass  beyond  remedy. 

The  final  separation  would  be  effected  "  by  angels,"  by 
superhuman  agencies.  The  absolute  ideal  is  not  to  be 
attained  by  us  in  our  present  stage  of  development.  The 
Master  has  here  given  us  no  hard  and  fast  method  of 
church  discipline  and  no  definite  program  for  political  action 
in  the  treatment  of  offenders.  He  has  sought  rather  to 
inculcate  that  wise  spirit  of  patience  which  holds  itself  un- 
willing to  imperil  valued  interests  by  its  fierce  onslaughts 
upon  the  evil  which  has  become  entangled  with  the  good. 


306  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

The  main  lessons  of  the  parable  then  are  these:  the 
inevitable  mingling  of  varied  qualities  in  those  agencies 
which  make  for  betterment;  the  ineradicable  distinction 
to  be  kept  clear  between  the  good  and  the  evil;  the  utter 
abhorrence  of  evil  in  one's  heart  or  in  the  world,  unmodified 
by  any  sort  of  complacency,  as  being  the  work  of  "an 
enemy";  the  necessity  for  wise  and  discriminating  pa- 
tience in  waiting  for  the  elimination  of  the  evil  that  the 
very  life  of  the  organism  on  which  it  has  fastened  may  not 
be  imperiled;  and  the  habit  of  cordial  appreciation  which 
constantly  regards  the  growth  of  the  good  as  being  the 
significant  fact  in  the  field,  yielding  that  healthy  optimism 
which  serves  as  the  herald  of  a  gracious  harvest. 

Alas  for  those  who  can  see  the  tares  in  the  wheat  field 
and  not  see  the  wheat!  There  are  mudholes  in  Yosemite 
Valley  and  there  are  rattlesnakes  and  skunks.  But  in  the 
presence  of  El  Capitan  and  Vernal  Falls  the  healthy  mind 
does  not  dwell  upon  the  disagreeable  and  the  unsavory. 
It  is  a  small  nature  which  habitually  bestows  its  interest 
and  remark  upon  the  present  defects  in  the  process,  never 
catching  the  vision  of  that  great  consummation  toward 
which  the  moral  order  moves. 


LI 

THE  WORTH  OF  THE  KINGDOM 

Matt.  13  :  44-53 

We  find  these  parables  of  the  Kingdom  coming  in  pairs. 
They  are  rights  and  lefts,  fitting  neatly  upon  a  common 
body  of  truth.  They  supplement  each  other  in  the  vary- 
ing accent  given  to  particular  aspects  of  the  truth. 

The  wise  teacher  treats  his  utterance  as  sailors  treat  their 
boats.  He  makes  his  presentation  trim  by  loading  it  on 
both  sides.  The  single  strong  statement  standing  out  of 
all  relation  to  cognate  truths  becomes  oftentimes  dangerous 
and  misleading.  The  crank,  the  bigot  or  the  fanatic  is 
developed  by  having  one  tremendous  truth  plumped  on  one 
side  of  his  little  craft.  He  is  not  properly  stocked  and 
balanced;  he  is  not  rounded  out  by  other  truths,  and  the 
one  big  idea  he  carries  capsizes  him.  The  parallelism  and 
the  antithesis  of  scripture,  the  whole  habit  of  supplement- 
ing the  one  idea  by  its  mate  adds  to  the  impressiveness 
and  to  the  effectiveness  of  the  truth  thus  presented. 

Here  in  this  single  chapter  we  have  three  such  pairs  of 
parables.  In  the  parable  of  the  soil,  the  diligent  effort  of 
the  same  sower  of  the  same  good  seed  achieves  varying 
results  because  of  the  varying  character  of  the  soil,  hard, 
shallow,  weedy  or  promising.  This  brings  out  the  power  of 
environment  as  it  registers  its  effect  upon  the  best  of 
efforts.  Then  the  story  of  the  tares,  the  parable  of  the 
life  principle,  where  two  life  qualities  were  cast  into  the 
same   soil    with   varying   results,    balances    the    former   by 

307 


308  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

indicating  the  vital  importance  of  the  inner  life  quality  in 
determining  the  harvest. 

The  grain  of  mustard  seed  growing  into  a  splendid  plant, 
with  roots,  branches,  leaves,  all  organized  into  a  common 
life,  indicates  the  progress  achieved  by  those  visible,  tangi- 
ble efforts  put  forth  in  organized  fashion  for  the  advance- 
ment of  the  Kingdom  of  God.  Then  to  supplement  that 
teaching  in  the  minds  of  those  who  look  too  much  on  the 
outward  appearance  and  not  enough  on  the  subtle  forces  at 
work  beneath  the  surface,  the  parable  of  the  leaven  brings 
out  in  bold  relief  the  mighty  influence  of  those  silent,  per- 
m.eative  energies  which  work  by  spiritual  contagion  to  the 
same  high  end. 

Here  in  this  story  of  the  pearl  of  great  price  we  find  a 
merchantman  whose  business  it  was  to  buy  and  sell  pearls. 
He  found  in  the  regular  employ  of  his  trade  and  in  the 
terms  of  his  own  daily  pursuits  that  which  had  supreme 
worth  warranting  him  in  making  a  total  investment  of  his 
ability  and  resource  in  order  to  possess  himself  of  it.  He 
represents  the  men  who  in  the  immediate  line  of  their  em- 
ployment come  upon  those  spiritual  values  which  stand 
suprem^e.  They  are  able  to  construe  in  terms  of  that 
which  is  altogether  common  and  familiar  that  quality  of 
character  here  symbolized  by  the  pearl  of  great  price. 

But  in  view  of  the  fact  that  not  all  the  toilers  of  earth 
are  so  happily  situated,  Jesus  portrayed  the  finding  of  that 
supreme  value  in  life  by  another  picture.  There  was  a 
man  who  found  his  treasure  hidden  in  a  field  where  the 
sheep  were  grazing,  the  poppies  were  in  bloom  and  the 
children  were  at  play.  This  was  not  in  the  line  of  his 
usual  employment  or  interest  —  it  v/as  indeed  a  ''find." 
But  it  likewise  represented  to  him  the  highest  value  in 
life  and  he  sold  all  that  he  had  and  invested  it  in  that 
field   that  he   might  possess  the  treasure.     That  quality  of 


THE   PARABLES  OF  THE   KINGDOM        309 

life  which  holds  such  worth  as  to  warrant  the  investment 
of  one's  total  energy  may  not  lie  for  every  man  immediately 
in  the  line  of  his  customary  activity. 

We  are  grateful  to  the  Master  for  hanging  here  on  a 
single  wall  this  series  of  companion  pictures  affording  to 
our  minds  a  more  just  and  adequate  conception  of  the 
Kingdom  he  came  to  establish  in  the  hearts,  in  the  organ- 
ized relationships  and  in  the  institutions  of  men.  The 
Kingdom  of  God  includes  that  whole  section  and  quality 
of  life  which  owns  and  obeys  the  rule  of  the  divine  spirit. 
It  is  to  be  found  in  all  those  principles  and  aspirations 
which  rule  the  hearts  of  individual  men  becoming  deter- 
minative in  their  daily  conduct.  It  is  to  be  found  in  the 
prevalence  and  sovereignty  of  a  certain  spirit  and  method  in 
those  forms  of  social,  political,  industrial  organization  which 
bear  directly  upon  the  formation  of  character.  It  is  to  be 
found  in  the  steady  influence  of  those  enduring  institutions 
which  serve  to  express  and  to  develop  the  corporate  life  of 
society  so  that  all  the  varying  kingdoms  of  interest  shall 
be  in  process  of  becoming  kingdoms  of  the  divine  purpose 
as  revealed  in  the  Lord  Christ. 

The  soil  and  the  seed  are  both  to  be  regarded  in  antici- 
pating a  harvest.  The  houses  men  live  in,  the  shops  they 
work  in,  the  streets  their  children  play  in,  the  facilities  for 
cleanliness,  for  privacy,  for  happiness,  none  of  these  can 
be  left  out  of  the  account  in  making  a  forecast  of  human 
well-being. 

But  the  seed  also  has  a  way  of  asserting  its  mastery  over 
surroundings  apparently  untoward.  The  tare  achieves 
nothing  good  in  the  best  of  soil.  The  evil-minded  man 
goes  anywhere  and  everywhere  finding  that  which  ministers 
to  the  evil  in  his  nature.  The  pure  mind  and  unselfish 
heart  sent  by  some  noble  impulse  into  the  slums  secure  a 
reaction  from  those  conditions  which  hastens  rather  than 


310  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

retards  the  growth  of  moral  excellence.  Men  instructed  in 
the  Kingdom  of  God  do  not  speak  slightingly  of  either 
the  seed  or  the  soil;  they  have  regard  both  to  favoring 
environment  and  to  right  purpose. 

The  strongly  organized  and  the  subtly  pervasive  forms  of 
effort  and  influence  divide  the  honors.  The  Kingdom  of 
Heaven  does  come  by  observation  where  wise  means  are 
skillfully  adapted  to  secure  right  ends.  We  are  urged  to 
be  as  wise  as  the  children  of  this  world  in  shaping  our 
activities  in  such  fashion  as  to  compass  results.  But  the 
kingdom  within  us  and  around  us  comes  also  by  those 
unobserved  agencies  which  work  under  cover  —  as  the 
leaven  worked.  They  are  never  tabulated  in  any  kind  of 
report  but  they  will  come  in  for  recognition  in  the  great 
day  when  many  an  amazed  man  will  be  saying,  "  Lord, 
when?  "  We  are  not  to  ignore  the  mission  of  those  myriad 
forms  of  spiritual  contagion  which  work  night  and  day 
while  men  sleep  and  rise,  making  ceaselessly  for  the  great 
fulfillment. 

The  direct  search  for  the  supreme  values  in  life  in  one's 
own  line  of  effort  and  on  the  other  hand  the  inadvertent 
finding  of  that  v/hich  shines  with  such  radiance  as  to  lay 
its  requisition  upon  all  our  further  endeavors  —  both  these 
have  place  when  we  plan  for  the  appeal  of  the  truth  and 
for  the  enlistment  of  others  in  the  quest  of  life  abounding 
and  unending. 

The  hour  cometh  and  now  is  when  all  that  any  man  is 
worth  is  the  good  he  has  done  and  the  character  he  has  won. 
The  character  and  the  service  of  the  individual  life  are  for 
each  soul  the  treasure  hid  in  the  field  and  the  pearl  of 
great  price.  It  matters  not  what  Bradstreet  says;  it 
matters  not  what  the  headlines  in  the  newspapers  may 
announce;  it  matters  not  though  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce may  adjourn  for  an  hour  and  the  flags  fly  at  half- 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE   KINGDOM         311 

mast  on  all  the  public  buildings  —  all  the  man  is  worth  is 
the  good  he  has  done  and  the  character  he  has  won. 
Therefore  do  good  and  give  alms.  Provide  bags  which  wax 
not  old.     Lay  up  treasures  which  fail  not. 

The  treasure  and  the  pearl  both  proclaim  the  fact  then 
that  every  man's  supreme  concern  is  the  quality  of  life 
which  may  be  secured.  What  each  man  makes  out  of  his 
field  of  effort  is  important.  But  what  the  field  makes  out  of 
him,  as  he  buys  and  sells,  or  heals  or  pleads,  or  teaches  or 
preaches,  is  a  thousand  times  more  important. 

"  Covet  earnestly  the  best!  "  It  lies  below  the  surface, 
even  as  the  hid  treasure  was  deep  buried  underneath  the 
smooth  slope  where  the  grass  grew  and  the  cattle  grazed. 
If  you  would  possess  the  values  which  are  supreme  you 
will  need  to  touch  life  at  its  deeper  levels,  uncovering 
those  profounder  sources  of  motive,  stimulus  and  spiritual 
supply.  The  hid  treasure  of  the  soul  is  only  available  for 
those  who  are  willing  to  dig  deep  and  invest  their  all. 

There  is  only  one  possession  in  this  world  where  a  man's 
tenure  is  absolutely  sure  —  no  man  is  ever  compelled  to 
part  with  himself.  If  he  gives  his  best  strength  to  the 
accumulation  of  an  abundance  of  things,  he  may  hear  the 
summons  at  any  moment,  "  This  night  thy  soul  shall  be 
required  of  thee  —  then  whose  shall  those  things  be?" 
Whose  indeed!  In  that  hour  he  has  nothing  to  take  with 
him  but  his  own  qualities  of  mind  and  heart,  his  own  ac- 
cumulation of  character  and  his  own  record  of  Christian 
service.  And  that  fact  becomes  either  his  highest  reward  or 
his  sorest  penalty,  for  no  man  can  be  good  company  for 
himself  permanently  unless  he  is  a  Christian.  He  needs 
the  peace  and  the  promise  of  Christian  faith. 

"  Judas  went  out  and  it  was  night."  From  that  hour  of 
guilty  treachery  it  was  always  night  when  Judas  went 
out  —  no  matter  where  he  went  —  for  Judas.     It  is  gruesome 


312  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

to  have  a  traitor  around  —  and  in  every  room  or  group  that 
Judas  entered  there  was  a  traitor  present.  When  he  died 
he  left  his  thirty  pieces  of  silver  and  all  that  he  had,  but 
he  took  JudaSj  the  traitor,  with  him.  The  tenure  of  things 
is  uncertain  but  the  tenure  of  self  is  sure.  It  is  therefore 
the  part  of  wisdom  to  invest  all  that  one  has  in  securing 
that  selfhood  here  symbolized  by  the  treasure  and  the 
pearl. 

"  Have  ye  understood  all  these  things?  "  Jesus  asked. 
"  They  said  to  him.  Yea,  Lord."  How  he  must  have 
smiled,  inwardly  if  not  outwardly,  at  their  simplicity! 
They  had  learned  the  alphabet  and  were  beginning  to 
pronounce  words  of  one  syllable  in  the  language  of  the 
Kingdom.  But  the  deeper  meaning  and  the  richer  content 
of  that  life  abundant  and  eternal  to  which  he  would  intro- 
duce them  lay  ahead  as  an  undiscovered  country.  They 
had  need  of  further  instruction  in  the  methods  of  the 
Kingdom  that  as  well-to-do  householders  they  might  bring 
forth  from  its  treasury  things  new  and  old. 


LII 
THE  HEARER  AND  THE  DOER 

Luke  6  :  39-49 

"And  he  spake  a  parable  unto  them"  —  in  fact,  four 
brief  parables  within  the  limits  of  this  brief  passage.  The 
blind  leading  the  blind  —  a  lesson  on  leadership!  The 
splinter  and  the  beam  —  a  lesson  on  self-examination! 
The  good  and  the  bad  tree  —  a  lesson  on  the  organic  rela- 
tion between  the  inner  life  and  outward  conduct!  The  wise 
and  the  foolish  builders  —  a  lesson  on  the  necessity  of 
founding  the  life  on  obedience  to  the  divine  will! 

"  Can  the  blind  lead  the  blind?  "  They  can  and  they 
do.  We  see  full-page,  life-size  illustrations  of  it  every  day 
in  the  week.  And  we  also  see  in  the  "pit"  —  as  the 
Revised  Version  more  accurately  has  it,  for  Palestine 
abounded  in  wells  without  curbs,  in  unfenced  quarries  and 
in  various  kinds  of  "pits"  —  the  outcome  of  the  experi- 
ment. 

It  will  be  a  great  gain  when  we  recognize  the  fact  that 
no  man  has  a  right  to  lead  until  he  knows  his  way  about. 
No  man  has  a  right  to  urge  his  opinions  upon  others  until 
he  has  made  an  honest  study  of  the  subject.  The  blunder- 
ing work  of  amateurs  and  smatterers  helps  to  fill  many  a 
"  pit "  with  human  wreckage.  Men  with  heads  on  their 
shoulders  are  demanding  the  verdict  of  expert  knowledge. 
The  committing  of  valued  interests  to  sound  knowledge  and 
trained  efficiency  would  seem  to  be  a  commonplace  of 
prudence.  It  is  a;  question  whether  the  hasty  judgment  or 
quick  resentment  of  the  crowd  should  be  made  a  court  of 

313 


314  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

immediate  and  final  appeal  for  carefully  reasoned  verdicts 
brought  in  by  men  to  whom  the  adjudication  of  difficult 
questions  is  a  life  calling.  The  "  blind  "  may  feel  abun- 
dantly able  to  "lead"  and  the  "pit"  may  declare  the  re- 
sults of  their  self-confidence. 

The  special  reference  of  the  Master  was  to  mxoral  blind- 
ness. He  found  patent  and  laughable  evidence  of  this 
obtuseness  in  the  moral  immodesty  of  those  who  stood 
ever  ready  to  indicate  the  splinterlike  faults  in  their  fellows 
while  great  beams  of  moral  deficiency  marred  their  own 
natures.  "  How  canst  thou  say,  '  Brother,  let  me  pull  out 
the  mote  from  thine  eye '  while  thou  beholdest  not  the 
beam  in  thine  own  eye?"  The  "smug  complacency"  was 
so  ludicrous  as  to  elicit  this  extravagant  picture  of  "  splinter 
and  beam  "  from  the  lips  of  Christ. 

The  role  of  "  the  superior  person  "  forever  bent  upon 
bringing  home  to  others  the  sense  of  their  moral  lack  is 
hard.  His  very  absorption  in  the  multitudinous  faults 
v/hich  he  detects  in  others  robs  him  of  the  needed  time  and 
strength  to  make  similar  scrutiny  of  his  own  limitations. 
The  two  imperative  needs  in  his  case  are  these:  seif- 
exam.ination  —  "Behold  what  is  in  thine  own  eye";  and 
self-reform  —  "Cast  out  the  beam  in  thine  own  eye,  then 
thou  shalt  see  clearly."  These  vv^holesome  admonitions 
follow  naturally  upon  the  preceding  verses.  Before  we 
undertake  to  "  judge  "  or  "  condemn  "  others  we  must 
strictly  judge  ourselves  or  we  shall  be  found  indeed  "  blind 
leaders  of  the  blind." 

The  Master  then  indicated  the  necessary  and  organic 
relation  between  the  inner  life  principle  and  its  outward 
m.anifestation  in  conduct.  The  good  tree  brings  forth  good 
fruit,  the  evil  tree  bears  evil  fruit  —  in  both  cases,  like 
Luther,  "It  cannot  otherwise."  The  dependence  of  whole- 
some moral  influence  upon  a  right  life  within  is  absolute. 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         315 

Spiritual  efficacy  is  no  trick  to  be  learned  by  the  clever; 
it  is  not  a  question  of  a  more  perfect  technique.  The 
futility  of  expecting  figs  from  thorns  or  grapes  from  thistles 
is  not  more  evident  than  the  futility  of  hoping  for  spiritual 
usefulness  from  an  unrenewed,  disobedient  life. 

**  What  you  are  talks  so  much  louder  than  what  you  say 
that  my  mind  is  confused,"  was  the  bitter  answer  given 
by  honest  intelligence  to  officious  insincerity.  Heart  and 
mouth  must  have  a  common  life  principle  if  anything  of 
worth  is  to  issue,  for  "  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart 
the  mouth  speaketh." 

Then  the  folly  of  pious  utterance  unattended  by  the 
plain  habit  of  moral  obedience  comes  in  for  rebuke.  "  Why 
call  ye  me  '  Lord,  Lord,'  and  do  not  the  things  which  I 
say?  "  Why  indeed!  What  shall  it  profit  though  a  man 
gracefully  and  habitually  utters  all  the  litanies  of  earth  if 
these  worshipful  words  are  not  accompanied  by  an  un- 
wearying effort  to  bring  the  practice  of  his  life  into  agree- 
ment with  the  uttered  aspiration. 

Jesus  likened  the  man  of  obedient  habit  to  one  who  in 
building  his  house  dug  deep  and  laid  the  foundation  on  a 
rock.  And  when  the  hard  tests  came,  the  rain  and  the 
wind,  the  stream  and  the  flood  beating  upon  the  house,  it 
stood  because  it  was  founded  upon  a  rock. 

"  And  every  one  that  heareth  these  sayings  of  mine  and 
doeth  them  not  shall  be  likened  unto  a  dizzy  man  "  — 
to  employ  the  quaint,  suggestive  translation  given  the  word 
in  Wyckliffe's  Bible  —  "who  built  his  house  upon  the 
sand."  The  light-headed,  staggering  uncertainty  of  the 
life  grounded  in  disregard  for  the  word  of  Christ  could  not 
be  better  indicated.  When  the  hard  tests  come  to  such  a 
life  it  falls  for  lack  of  adequate  support. 

The  Spreckels  Building  on  Market  Street,  San  Francisco, 
is   eighteen    stories   high.     It    is   a    tall,    slender,    towerlike 


316  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

structure,  square  in  form  and  apparently  without  sufficient 
base  for  a  building  of  such  height.  When  the  great  earth- 
quake of  1906  occurred  and  the  whole  surface  of  the  earth 
along  the  line  of  the  "  Portola  Fault  "  was  in  a  tremor, 
it  was  estimated  by  scientific  men  that  the  swaying  of  the 
tall  Spreckels  Building  carried  the  center  of  gravity  beyond 
the  base  line  many  times  during  those  fearful  forty-eight 
seconds. 

But  when  the  building  was  erected  the  wise  builder 
"  dug  deep  and  laid  the  foundations  "  aright.  The  build- 
ing has  a  steel  frame  and  the  frame  does  not  rest  upon  the 
loose  sand  which  underlies  so  much  of  San  Francisco  — 
the  architect  pierced  through  the  loose  material  at  the 
surface  and  anchored  the  steel  frame  in  great  w^ells  blasted 
from  the  solid  rock  and  afterward  filled  in  around  the 
bases  of  the  steel  frame  with  cement.  When  the  eighteenth 
of  April  came,  testing  every  man's  work  of  what  sort  it 
was,  the  huge  weight  of  the  swaying  building  was  held  in 
place  because  it  was  founded  upon  a  rock.  It  had  gripped 
that  which  was  abiding. 

The  hard  tests  come  to  every  life.  The  elemental  forces 
of  human  experience,  the  wind  and  the  rain,  the  stream  and 
the  flood,  threaten  the  life  structure  of  each  one  of  us. 
The  various  temptations,  subtle  and  powerful,  the  heavy 
burdens  of  responsibility  which  cause  men  to  stagger,  the 
bitter  disappointments  which  beat  upon  the  dearest  pur- 
poses we  cherish,  the  shock  of  adversity  or  of  bereave- 
ment which  causes  the  very  foundations  of  our  hope  to 
tremble,  all  these  experiences  come  steadily  to  the  children 
of  men.  And  the  tested  lives  stand  or  fall  as  they  have  or 
have  not  been  grounded  in  obedience  to  principle,  as  they 
have  or  have  not  come  to  grip  the  fundamental  realities. 

In  telling  fashion  Jesus  passes  in  review  these  incom- 
petent  and    untrustworthy    guides.     The   w^ould-be    leaders 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         317 

blinded  by  their  own  conceit,  like  the  Pharisees,  the  lead- 
ers blinded  by  their  unbelief,  like  the  Sadducees,  the  lead- 
ers blinded  by  beams  of  moral  fault  in  their  own  lives,  and 
the  leaders  blinded  by  their  habit  of  disobedience  are  all 
indicated  and  the  disciples  are  warned  against  the  evil 
results  which  such  incompetence  entails. 

The  imperative  need  of  speedily  and  steadily  translating 
"  hearing "  into  "  doing "  can  scarcely  be  overstated. 
"  After  he  had  seen  the  vision,  immediately  we  endeavored 
to  go."  One  man,  the  most  conspicuous  and  forceful  man 
of  his  generation  in  moral  influence,  saw  a  vision  and  im- 
mediately a  group  of  devoted  men  set  forth  with  him  along 
the  line  of  achievement.  The  eyes  of  insight  saw  certain 
ends  as  desirable.  Obedient  feet  began  at  once  to  tread 
the  path  of  fulfillment  and  obedient  hands  w^ere  busied 
with  the  task  of  realizing  that  splendid  hope. 

"If  ye  know  these  things  happy  are  ye  if  ye  do  them." 
The  highest  happiness  comes  not  by  what  we  hear  or  see 
or  feel  —  it  comes  by  what  we  do.  What  shall  it  profit  a 
man  though  he  hear  great  music  and  read  great  books  and 
have  his  soul  stirred  by  the  appeal  of  some  prophet  of  the 
living  God,  unless  as  a  result  of  it  all  he  goes  out  and  does 
something.  If  you  hear  and  feel  and  see,  happy  are  ye  if 
ye  do,  and  only  then. 

"  The  criticism  of  the  next  generation  upon  this,"  some 
wise  man  has  said,  "  will  be,  '  How  plainly  they  saw  their 
problems,  how  ineffective  they  were  in  solving  them.' " 
The  arraignment  is  too  sweeping,  yet  in  many  quarters  the 
eyes  see  and  the  ears  hear  but  the  feet  and  the  hands  are 
not  ready  to  go  in  the  way  of  achievement. 

Jacob  Riis  shows  us  "  How  the  Other  Half  Lives,"  but 
thousands  of  the  more  fortunate  decline  the  huge  task  of 
helping  to  change  the  hard  lot  of  their  unhappy  fellows. 
Booker   Washington    in    "Up    from   Slavery  "    shov/s   us   a 


318  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

vision  of  a  backward  race  ennobled  by  training,  but  thou- 
sands of  white  men  forget  to  lend  a  hand.  John  Spargo 
utters  "The  Cry  of  the  Children,"  for  there  are  two  mil- 
lions of  them  under  sixteen  years  of  age  working  at  gainful 
occupations  in  our  own  land  according  to  the  government 
census,  but  the  lack  of  resolute  action  to  stop  this  physical, 
mental  and  moral  depletion  of  the  immature  is  disgraceful. 
Lincoln  Steffens  shows  up  "  The  Shame  of  the  Cities " 
and  it  brings  a  blush  to  the  face  of  many  a  patriot,  but 
when  the  task  of  removing  that  shame  begins  to  make  de- 
mands upon  the  time  and  strength  men  are  giving  to  their 
private  business,  there  are  many  whose  love  for  civic 
righteousness  v/axes  cold. 

What  are  lessons  and  visions  for  but  to  be  speedily 
translated  into  deeds!  Hearing  and  seeing  and  feeling 
which  find  no  expression  in  action  become  a  kind  of  mental 
and  spiritual  dissipation  no  more  honorable  than  physical 
dissipation  through  the  use  of  stimulants  or  opiates.  The 
great  truth  yields  its  value  only  as  it  finds  utterance  in 
terms  of  life.  "  Whoso  looketh  into  the  perfect  law  of 
liberty  and  continueth  therein,  he  being  not  a  forgetful 
hearer  but  a  doer  of  the  work,  this  man  shall  be  blessed 
in  his  deed." 


LIII 
THE  GROWTH  OF  THE  KINGDOM 

Mark  4  :  26-32 

The  Kingdom  of  God  grows  steadily  because  it  has  be- 
hind it  the  push  of  universal  and  invincible  forces.  It  is 
"as  if  a  man  should  cast  seed  into  the  ground  and  should 
sleep  and  rise  night  and  day  and  the  seed  should  spring 
and  grow  up,  he  knows  not  how."  The  whole  process  was 
clothed  in  mystery  for  the  man  who  by  his  own  act  had 
seemed  to  set  in  motion  these  mighty  energies.  And  the 
harvest  came  on  apace  with  a  kind  of  inevitableness  be- 
cause of  the  movement  of  these  unseen  forces  with  which 
he  had  allied  his  effort. 

The  naturalness  of  the  religious  life  and  the  sure  preval- 
ence of  that  life  quality  which  is  to  be  the  ultimate  answer 
to  the  prayer,  "  Thy  Kingdom  come,"  are  here  portrayed. 
"The  earth  bringeth  forth  fruit  of  herself"  —  she  cannot 
otherwise.  It  is  a  case  of  mistaken  emphasis  when  the 
strangeness  of  the  religious  life  is  urged.  The  idea  of  "  a 
peculiar  people "  has  been  overworked  and  distorted  — 
the  Revised  Version  has  it  "  a  people  for  God's  own  pos- 
session." It  is  the  un-Christian  life  which  is  odd  and 
strange.  When  a  man  "comes  to  himself"  he  comes  to 
the  Father.  The  more  normal  the  life  becomes  the  more 
truly  Christian  it  is. 

This  parable  beyond  all  others  perhaps  proclaims  the 
fundamental  adaptation  of  the  truth  of  God  to  the  spirit 
of  man.  The  adaptation  of  seed  to  soil  and  of  soil  to  seed 
was  such  that  when  once  they  were  brought  together,  men 

319 


320  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

might  sleep  and  rise,  leaving  this  conjunction  of  forces  with- 
out further  effort  of  their  own,  and  inevitably  there  would 
come  forth  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full- 
fledged  grain.  The  thrust  of  an  Infinite  Purpose  made  sure 
the  final  result. 

"  The  earth  bringeth  forth  fruit  of  herself  "  —  automate 
was  the  word  of  the  Master.  He  saw  the  progress  of  the 
Kingdom  proceeding  automatically  when  once  the  truth 
should  have  been  genuinely  lodged  in  the  mind  and  heart 
of  the  race.  While  men  slept  and  rose  and  slept  again  to 
ease  them  from  their  toil  these  unseen  spiritual  energies 
would  be  ceaselessly  at  work  bringing  nearer  the  harvest. 
The  well-designed  and  benign  acts  of  men  would  be  taken 
up  and  utilized  by  the  great  moral  order  which  enfolded 
them.  The  direct  efforts  of  men  become  enlisted  with  a 
mighty  system  of  energies  which  are  the  widely  spreading 
branches  of  that  true  vine  of  divine  life. 

What  a  reassuring  thought  to  those  who  engage  in  spiri- 
tual effort  and  become  disheartened  oftentimes  when  they 
look  for  results!  The  utterance  of  some  vital  truth  from 
the  pulpit  or  in  a  classroom  on  Sunday  seems  to  issue  in 
no  immediate  visible  result.  But  the  new  idea  once  im- 
planted, the  new  impulse  once  awakened,  the  new  resolve 
quickened  for  the  moment  into  action,  is  taken  up  and 
conserved  by  the  same  sort  of  invisible  and  invincible 
forces  as  those  which  met  the  seed  as  it  fell  into  the  soil. 
And  then  as  the  minister  and  the  teacher  sleep  and  rise 
quite  unaware  of  what  is  in  process  beneath  the  surface 
where  their  eyes  do  not  reach,  the  realm  of  human  nature 
is  bringing  along  results  of  itself.  When  our  visible  efforts 
have  ceased  and  our  spoken  words  have  been  hushed,  un- 
seen energies  are  still  at  work  in  which  we  may  safely 
confide. 

The  self-activity  of  the  soil  typifies  "  that  Power  not  our- 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         321 

selves  which  makes  for  righteousness."  It  typifies  also  that 
resident  hunger  of  the  soul,  and  its  perennial  thirst  for  the 
living  God  —  he  has  made  us  for  himself,  and  our  hearts 
are  restless  till  they  rest  in  him.  In  all  our  efforts  we  may 
depend  upon  these  two  allies,  the  underlying  good  will  of 
the  Infinite  and  the  essential  adaptation  of  the  human 
heart  to  the  message  of  the  gospel. 

When  some  pious  visitor  at  the  White  House  in  the 
darker  days  of  the  Civil  War  expressed  to  the  President 
the  hope  that  God  was  on  their  side,  Lincoln  re- 
plied gravely,  "  I  am  more  concerned  about  our  being  on 
God's  side."  When  men  and  women  in  their  dominant 
purposes,  in  their  prevailing  moods  and  dispositions,  in 
those  aspirations  which  have  the  right  of  way,  undertake  to 
place  themselves  in  line  with  the  divine  purpose,  they  may 
share  in  the  serenity  of  the  farmer  who  sleeps  and  rises  in 
the  sure  certainty  that  having  cast  his  seed  into  the  soil, 
he  has  initiated  a  process  which  will  work  steadily  and 
mightily  in  his  interest. 

The  growth  of  the  Kingdom  is  an  orderly  procedure 
according  to  the  teaching  of  this  passage.  It  does  not  com.e 
mainly  by  cataclysms.  It  is  an  evolution  rather  than  a 
revolution.  The  blade  is  put  forth  and  then  at  a  later 
stage  the  earing  is  seen  and  late  in  the  season  the  full 
grain  appears.  The  stirring  programs  put  forward  in  the 
Millerite  excitement  in  1843  or  by  "  Pastor  Russell  "  in 
his  pictures  of  the  "  Millennial  Dawn  "  may  appeal  to  the 
uninitiated.  But  "  householders  instructed  in  the  Kingdom 
of  God  "  who  know  the  vital  relation  between  "  things 
new  and  old,"  are  not  misled.  When  men  cry,  "  Lo, 
here,"  or,  "  Lo,  there,"  their  interest  goes  not  forth. 
They  have  learned  the  method  of  the  Master  which  is  the 
method  of  the  ages. 

We  do  not  add  cubits  to  our  stature  by  being  anxious 


322  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

and  overwrought  for  an  hour  or  two.  We  do  not  cause 
the  seed  to  grow  by  sitting  up  night  and  day  to  give  it  the 
added  stimulus  of  feverish  effort.  The  child  living  out  the 
law  of  his  own  being,  fulfilling  not  fretfully  but  trustfully 
the  purpose  of  his  existence,  does  add  cubits  to  his  stature. 
And  men  sleeping  and  rising  in  normal  fashion  await  the 
action  of  those  orderly  forces  of  earth  and  sky  which  work 
their  beneficent  will  upon  the  seed  cast  into  the  ground. 
The  Kingdom  comes  mainly  not  by  swift  and  dramatic 
strokes  which  lend  themselves  so  readily  to  observation  — 
it  comes  by  those  patient,  agelong  processes  which  believ- 
ing men  and  women  set  in  motion  as  they  move  toward  the 
vast  fulfillmxcnt  of  their  highest  hopes. 

The  initial  impulse  may  be  ever  so  slight  if  only  it  be 
vital.  Bulk  does  not  always  count  for  efficiency.  The 
grain  of  mustard  seed  was  less  than  all  seeds  with  which 
the  hearers  of  the  Master  were  familiar  but  full  grown  it 
became  a  tree  shooting  forth  great  branches  in  which  the 
fowls  of  the  air  might  lodge.  The  word  of  truth,  the  act 
of  friendliness,  the  quiet  maintenance  of  a  certain  attitude 
or  the  unselfish  deed  of  devotion,  may  seem  to  be  the 
least  of  all  the  influences  v/hich  bid  for  the  response  of 
some  life.  The  quiet  action  may  not  bulk  large  upon  the 
popular  horizon.  But  when  it  is  sown  by  the  hand  of 
faith,  it  may  serve  to  usher  in  a  development  possessed  of 
large  and  lasting  significance. 

Some  bit  of  consecrated  effort  or  material  the  great  order 
of  unseen  forces  does  seem  to  require.  Give  it  a  grain  of 
mustard  seed  and  it  will  show  us  a  tree.  Give  it  water- 
pots  filled  with  water  to  the  brim  and  the  wedding  will  be 
furnished  with  wine.  Give  it  that  small  measure  of  obe- 
dient trust  which  feels  its  way  along  the  street  that  it  may 
wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam  and  the  blind  eyes  will  be  made 
to  see.     Give  it  the  dust  of  the  ground,  whatever  that  may 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM  323 

mean,  and  the  breath  of  a  mighty  Ufe  will  be  breathed 
into  it  until  there  issues  forth  a  living  soul  destined  to 
wear  the  likeness  and  image  of  the  Most  High.  The  basis 
of  consecrated  resource  may  be  slender  but,  supplemented 
by  the  gracious  power  which  takes  it  up  as  the  soil  took 
up  the  mustard  seed,  the  outcome  may  be  glorious  beyond 
estimate. 

One  of  the  most  effective  men  in  any  of  the  teams  en- 
gaged in  the  **  Men  and  Religion  Forward  Movement  "  a  few 
years  ago  related  this  occurrence  in  his  early  life.  He  was 
employed  as  office  boy  in  a  large  concern.  The  president 
of  the  corporation  was  commonly  referred  to  by  the  clerks 
as  "  Old  Money  Bags,"  as  a  "  Pirate "  or  a  "  Shark." 
The  boy  had  never  seen  him. 

One  morning  this  office  boy  was  sent  into  the  president's 
private  room  to  kindle  a  fire.  While  he  was  laying  the 
sticks  he  heard  a  step  behind  him  and  before  he  had  time 
to  look  around  a  cheery  voice  came:  "  Good  morning! 
That  fire  will  feel  good  today.  It  is  chilly!  Thank  you 
very  much."  It  was  only  a  mustard  seed  of  kindly  interest 
in  the  least  important  of  thousands  of  employes,  but  it 
was  the  inception  of  a  new  feeling  and  attitude.  The  pres- 
ent proclamation  of  a  social  gospel  which  has  to  do  with 
the  coming  of  a  Kingdom  which  shall  be  an  everlasting 
Kingdom  might  trace  its  origins  back  to  that  simple  word 
of  human  Interest.  When  the  initial  Impulse  Is  grown,  no 
man  can  foretell  the  result!  The  impatient  people  who 
would  leap  at  once  to  the  harvest  without  passing  in  regu- 
lar fashion  through  the  preliminary  stages  need  to  read 
this  parable  once  more. 

There  is  also  included  in  this  passage  the  parable  of  the 
leaven.  The  new  life  principle  once  introduced  into  the 
measures  of  meal  worked  its  will  upon  its  neighboring 
particles.     It  imparted  the  same  leavening  potency  to  each 


324  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

adjoining  bit  of  meal  so  that  it  in  turn  worked  upon  its 
fellow.  And  this  communication  of  a  new  quality  was 
carried  forward  until  the  whole  was  leavened.  The  leaven 
stands  for  that  mysterious  energy  which  lifts  —  the  original 
meaning  was  "  to  raise."  It  lifts  the  materials  of  life  to 
a  higher  level. 

How  the  two  parables  of  the  mustard  seed  and  the  leaven 
supplement  each  other!  In  the  first  the  tiny  seed  growing 
into  a  splendid  plant  with  roots,  trunk,  branches  and 
leaves,  affording  a  resting  place  for  the  birds,  brings  out  the 
progress  achieved  by  the  visible  and  organized  efforts  of 
men  for  the  advancement  of  the  Kingdom.  It  was  a 
work  seen  and  tangible  where  part  related  itself  to  part 
before  the  eyes  of  the  many,  making  plain  the  develop- 
ment from  a  single  seed  to  this  useful  and  promising 
growth. 

Then  lest  men  might  feel  that  nothing  was  being  ac- 
complished where  no  such  visible  organized  results  were  in 
evidence,  Jesus  hung  before  them  the  picture  of  the  leaven. 
The  yeast  hidden  by  the  deft  hand  of  a  woman  in  three 
measures  of  meal  did  its  work  out  of  sight  in  an  unor- 
ganized way.  It  illustrated  the  permeative  power  of  the 
truth,  the  results  achieved  by  subtle  communication  where 
one  soul  influences  another  it  scarce  knows  how. 


LIV 
THE  SIGN  AND  THE  LEAVEN 
Mark  8  :  11-26 

The  Master  had  crossed  the  frontier  into  the  borders  of 
Tyre  and  Sidon.  He  had  also  been  at  work  in  Decapolis. 
Now  when  he  returned  to  his  own  country  "  the  Pharisees 
came  forth  and  began  to  question  him,  seeking  of  him  a 
sign  from  heaven."  It  was  their  prevaiHng  mood.  They 
were  the  carping,  hindering,  nagging  opponents  of  the  will 
of  God.  What  a  r61e  for  the  professed  religious  leaders  of 
the  day  to  play!  What  a  contrast  between  the  Gentile 
woman's  eager  faith  and  the  sour  unbelief  of  these  "  Mas- 
ters  in   Israel." 

They  demanded  "  a  sign  from  heaven."  In  their  cavils 
they  attributed  the  work  of  Christ  in  casting  out  devils 
to  the  Prince  of  devils  —  they  believed  that  supernatural 
powers  of  an  evil  sort  might  be  at  work  in  the  affairs  of 
this  world.  They  therefore  demanded  this  "  sign  from 
heaven  "  which  should  conform  to  their  notions  of  an  unim- 
peachable testimony  to  the  divine  character  of  Christ's 
work. 

This  they  said  "  testing  him  "  —  the  translation  of  this 
word  in  so  many  passages  as  "  tempt "  is  confusing.  It 
would  clear  up  for  many  minds  the  meaning  of  that  peti- 
tion in  the  Lord's  Prayer,  "  Lead  us  not  into  tempta- 
tion," if  the  words  were  understood  to  mean,  "  Bring  us  not 
into  the  place  of  severe  testing."  It  is  the  voicing  of  spiri- 
tual modesty  uncertain  of  its  own  strength  and  shrinking 
from    the    strain    which    might    prove    its    undoing.     The 

325 


326  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

Pharisees  demanded  this  "  sign  from  heaven  "  that  they 
might  subject  his  claims  to  a  rigid  test  of  their  own 
devising. 

The  Master  "  sighed  deeply  in  his  spirit."  That  genera- 
tion had  already  a  gigantic  "  sign  from  heaven  "  in  the 
fact  of  the  Incarnation.  His  own  matchless  life  and  teach- 
ing, his  power  of  moral  renewal  in  the  lives  of  those  who 
companied  with  him,  his  message  awakening  that  response 
in  the  moral  need  of  the  world  which  became  his  highest 
credential  —  all  these  were  "signs  from  heaven." 

"  There  shall  no  sign  be  given  to  this  generation  "  — 
in  the  parallel  passages  in  Matthew  and  in  Luke,  these 
words  are  added,  "  but  the  sign  of  the  prophet  Jonah." 
In  this  case  the  sign  was  internal  and  spiritual  rather 
than  some  external  wonder.  "  The  men  of  Nineveh  re- 
pented at  the  preaching  of  Jonah  "  —  they  made  the  re- 
sponse which  the  Pharisees  of  Christ's  time  were  failing  to 
make  though  a  greater  than  Jonah  voiced  the  appeal. 

Jesus  would  turn  their  minds  from  the  external  to  the 
internal.  They  were  looking  for  the  "  evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity "  in  the  wrong  quarter.  When  they  cried,  "  Give 
us  your  proofs,"  "  Shew  us  a  sign,"  their  minds  were  upon 
that  which  is  altogether  secondary.  The  Master  utilized 
miracles  to  gain  attention,  for  no  teacher  can  teach  unless 
he  has  attention.  But  he  speedily  sought  to  lift  the  inter- 
est of  his  hearers  from  the  outward  to  the  inward  mani- 
festations of  the  divine  energy.  "  This  is  an  evil  genera- 
tion —  they  seek  a  sign." 

We  have  made  a  distinct  gain  in  this  matter  in  the  last 
fifty  years.  The  evidential  value  of  miracles  once  urged 
with  showy  confidence  has  been  remanded  to  an  entirely 
subordinate  place.  The  evidences  of,  Christianity  today 
which  carry  most  weight  with  judge  and  jury  are  to  be 
found  in  the  higher  standard  of  values  consequent  upon  the 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         327 

diffusion  of  the  Christian  gospel,  in  the  new  regard  for  the 
weak  and  helpless,  in  the  more  complete  sense  of  responsi- 
bility for  the  general  well-being,  in  the  steadier  and  more 
thoroughgoing  attitude  of  opposition  to  all  forms  of  evil, 
in  the  larger  vision  and  more  profound  confidence  touching 
the  coming  of  that  condition  of  life  worthy  to  be  designated 
as  "  the  Kingdom  of  God."  These  are  indeed  "  signs  from 
heaven  "  testifying  to  the  validity  of  the  Christian  message 
in  terms  of  abiding  worth. 

Jesus  left  the  Pharisees  and  took  a  boat  for  the  other 
side  of  the  lake.  The  disciples  accompanied  him,  but  they 
forgot  to  take  bread  with  them.  On  the  way  across  Jesus 
said,  "  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  and  of  the 
leaven  of  Herod."  The  word  "  leaven  "  was  used  among 
the  Hebrews  to  designate  any  pervasive  influence,  good  or 
bad,  but  more  commonly  bad  because  of  the  ceremonial 
prejudice  against  leaven  induced  by  the  ceremonial  law. 
"  The  leaven  of  the  Pharisee  "  was  that  spirit  of  formalism, 
pride,  carping,  hypocrisy  which  had  corrupted  the  religious 
life  of  the  nation.  "  The  leaven  of  Herod  "  was  worldli- 
ness.  The  Herods  were  professed  Jews  who  reacting  from 
the  strictness  of  the  Pharisees  into  license  were  importing 
into  Judaism  the  evils  of  heathenism. 

There  are  lighthearted  and  lightheaded  worldlings  in  all 
our  communities  who,  priding  themselves  on  their  detesta- 
tion of  anything  Puritanical  and  pluming  themselves  on 
what  they  regard  as  their  "  breadth  of  view,"  suffer  the 
loss  of  all  moral  passion  and  spiritual  fiber  by  the  inroads 
of  "  the  leaven  of  Herod."  And  standing  over  against 
them,  in  a  self-righteous  attitude  of  protest  it  may  be,  there 
are  those  who  by  stiff  pride  in  their  rigid  respectability 
and  in  their  measured  observance  of  religious  rites  become 
morally  ineffective  through  "  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees." 

The   poor  disciples,   almost   as   dull   as   the   sign-seekers, 


328  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

"  reasoned  "  (literally  "  dialogued,"  dielogizonto)  "  among 
themselves,  saying.  It  is  because  we  have  brought  no 
bread."  Then  it  became  necessary  for  the  Master  to  open 
the  eyes  of  their  understanding.  "  Having  eyes,  see  ye 
not?  Having  ears,  hear  ye  not?  "  And  recalling  to  their 
minds  the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  he  indicated  that 
it  was  easier  for  him  to  provide  bread  for  a  hungry  multi- 
tude than  to  develop  spiritual  insight  in  his  own  disciples. 
The  external  "  signs  and  wonders  "  were  in  his  evaluation 
the  easier  and  the  lower  form  of  manifestation  of  his 
power.  Then  he  explained  to  his  fumbling  followers  that 
it  was  against  the  teaching,  the  spirit,  the  influence  of  the 
Pharisees  and  of  the  Herodians  that  he  was  warning  them. 

When  they  came  to  Bethsaida  Jesus  healed  a  blind  man. 
It  was  an  unusual  cure  in  the  method  pursued.  The  Mas- 
ter utilized  certain  physical  agencies  —  "he  put  spittle 
on  the  eyes  of  the  blind  man."  The  cure  was  gradual  — 
when  the  man  was  asked  if  he  saw  anything  during  the 
process  of  recovery,  he  replied,  "  I  see  men  as  trees, 
walking."  He  could  discern  moving  objects  without  dis- 
tinguishing them.  Then  Jesus  treated  him  again  and  he 
saw  clearly. 

The  use  of  the  spittle,  and  the  laying  of  his  hands  upon 
the  sightless  eyes  (like  his  looking  up  to  heaven  and  his 
word  "  Ephphatha  "  in  the  healing  of  the  deaf  man  in 
Decapolis)  were  designed  to  awaken  and  encourage  faith. 
He  used  the  language  of  signs  in  making  his  "  sugges- 
tions," as  modern  psychotherapy  would  say,  in  order  to 
induce  a  mental  and  spiritual  condition  favorable  to  a  cure. 
Here,  as  his  custom  was,  he  sought  to  enlist  the  personal 
trust  and  effort  of  the  life  he  would  serve. 

It  was  an  essential  part  of  his  mission.  He  came  to  open 
the  eyes  of  the  blind  not  through  the  fiat  of  his  own  benefi- 
cent, redemptive  will  alone  but  by  securing  the  co-operation 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         329 

of  all  the  inner  powers  of  the  needy  life.  He  comes  to 
open  the  eyes  of  many  who  in  their  moral  blindness 
cherish  the  notion  that  they  see  perfectly.  But  their  range  of 
vision  is  so  narrowed  and  hedged  by  their  own  lack  of  the 
higher  powers  of  perception  that  the  world  they  inhabit  is 
one  of  thick  darkness. 

It  is  the  mind  that  sees  even  more  than  the  eyes.  I 
take  my  dog  with  me  into  the  Dresden  Gallery.  He  sees  all 
that  I  see,  physically  speaking.  He  probably  sees  a  great 
deal  more,  for  his  eyesight  is  better  than  mine  —  he  has 
never  had  to  succumb  to  the  indignity  of  glasses.  But 
when  we  com.e  out  after  visiting  every  room,  the  Sistine 
Madonna  is  not  in  the  dog's  world.  It  is  in  my  world.  I 
see  it,  I  feel  it,  I  am  inspired  by  it  as  I  sit  here  and  write. 
It  has  been  in  my  world  ever  since  I  saw  it  for  the  first 
time  twenty  odd  years  ago.  But  if  the  dog  were  to  live 
out  his  days  in  the  Dresden  Gallery  the  Sistine  Madonna 
would  never  enter  his  range  of  vision. 

This  blind  man  at  one  stage  of  his  recovery  saw  men  as 
trees  walking  —  he  had  a  blurred,  indistinct  vision  of  some- 
thing but  could  not  distinguish  the  material  from  the 
human.  How  many  men  and  women  about  us  suffer  the 
same  defect!  As  Dean  Hodges  cleverly  puts  it:  "A  large 
part  of  the  battle  of  life  has  been  fought  and  won  when 
one  has  learned  the  difference  between  a  man  and  a  tree. 
For  that  is  the  difference  between  the  great  and  the  small, 
between  mind  and  matter,  between  the  eternal  and  the 
transitory,  between  earth  and  heaven.  Success  begins  with 
a  recognition  of  the  values  of  things." 

It  is  one  of  the  great  valid,  abiding  signs  of  the  coming 
of  the  divine  life  into  the  world  that  men  and  communities 
which  formerly  walked  in  darkness  have  seen  a  great  light. 
They  possessed  only  a  hazy,  uncertain  vision  of  J  reality 
from  which  the  supreme  and  lasting  verities  were  excluded 


330  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

by  their  own  lack  of  perceptive  power.  But  now,  through 
the  regeneration  of  their  individual  hearts,  by  the  clarify- 
ing and  ennobling  of  their  social  ideals,  and  by  the  quicken- 
ing stimulus  afforded  by  contact  with  the  Spirit,  they  see 
heaven  and  they  see  it  open.  They  see  a  whole  upper 
realm  of  values,  forces  and  activities  clear  and  plain.  They 
see  the  messengers  of  the  Most  High  coming  and  going 
upon  a  ceaseless  and  beneficent  ministry.  Jesus  is  "  the 
light  of  the  world  "  and  they  who  follow  him  shall  lack 
neither  eyes  nor  the  medium  where  eyes  are  of  avail  — 
**  they  shall  not  walk  in  darkness  but  shall  have  the  light 
of  life." 


LV 
THE  CHILD  IN  THE  MIDST 
Matt.  18  : 1-14 

"  The  nineteenth  century  will  shine  in  history  as  a 
century  of  discoveries.  An  EngHsh  scientist  has  given  us  a 
Hst  of  them,  but  he  has  omitted  the  greatest  of  them  all, 
the  discovery  of  the  child.  Accurately  speaking,  we  should 
say  the  '  rediscovery  of  the  child,'  for  the  child  was  first 
discovered  eighteen  hundred  years  ago  by  the  Carpenter  of 
Nazareth.  In  the  first  century  of  our  era  Jesus  took  a 
child  and  set  him  in  the  midst  and  he  has  done  it  again 
in  the  century  just  closed.  He  has  set  him  in  the  midst  of 
the  artists  and  in  increased  numbers  they  have  been  paint- 
ing pictures  of  children.  He  has  set  him  In  the  midst  of 
the  poets  and  they  have  set  the  movements  of  the  child's 
life  to  music.  He  has  set  him  in  the  midst  of  the  psychol- 
ogists and  they  are  studying  him  furiously.  He  has  set 
him  in  the  midst  of  the  Church  and  the  greatest  work  the 
Church  has  done  in  a  century  has  been  done  among  the 
young." 

In  these  splendid  words  one  of  the  foremost  preachers 
in  America  has  indicated  the  center  of  interest  and  the  line 
of  advance  for  spiritual  effort  as  his  Master  indicated  it 
by  the  significant  action  narrated  in  this  passage.  He  took 
a  child  for  a  text  and  preached  a  sermon  on  greatness. 
He  lifted  a  child  in  his  arms  as  a  living,  moving  picture  of 
the  spirit  in  which  every  man  must  approach  the  Eternal. 
"  Except  ye  become  as  little  children  "  —  the  filial  attitude 
alone  is  acceptable  when  men  draw  near  to  him  who  is 

331 


332  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

most  fitly  designated  as  "  The  Father."  He  held  aloft 
a  child  and  asserted  that  the  interests  of  that  little  life 
were  so  sacred  that  in  the  realm  of  moral  values  the  unseen 
forces  which  have  to  do  with  the  child's  well-being  stand  in 
the  very  forefront  of  the  divine  interest  —  "In  heaven 
their  angels  do  always  behold  the  face  of  my  Father." 

In  all  this  he  exalted  the  qualities  of  modesty,  simplicity, 
teachableness  in  a  fashion  sorely  needed  by  this  strenuous, 
self-assertive,  self-confident  age  of  ours.  If  we  would  know 
the  joys  and  wield  the  subtler  powers  which  belong  to  the 
Kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  we  shall  need  to  reverse  many 
of  our  methods.  We  must  go  to  school  to  the  child.  A 
man  can  be  born  anew  when  he  is  old.  It  is  one  of  the 
glories  of  the  gospel  that  a  man  become  hard,  sordid,  sus- 
picious of  all  generous  impulse,  may  find  his  inner  life 
become  again  as  the  soul  of  a  child. 

We  are  giving  some  of  our  ripest  wisdom  and  most 
generous  effort  in  these  days  to  the  high  task  of  Christian 
nurture.  The  Bible  school  is  no  more  an  unimportant  ad- 
junct of  the  church,  subordinate  in  interest  and  value  to 
the  preaching  service  for  adults  —  the  truer  insight  into  the 
value  of  religious  education  has  set  it  in  the  very  forefront 
of  our  attention.  It  is  not  the  will  of  the  Father  that  one 
of  these  little  ones  should  be  hindered  or  hurt  in  his  spiri- 
tual unfolding  by  incompetent  instruction  or  by  blundering 
attempts  to  mould  his  inner  life.  Woe  betide  the  church 
which  allows  the  opening  mind  and  the  responsive  heart  to 
stumble! 

The  very  appointments  of  the  churches  are  being  made 
with  thoughtful  regard  for  the  child  in  the  midst.  There 
are  two  eyes  and  two  ears  in  a  boy's  head,  but  the  eyes  vote 
more  stock  twice  over  when  a  directors'  meeting  is  held 
than  do  the  ears.  Boys  are  looking  all  the  time  when  they 
are   awake  —  they   only   listen   on   occasion.     The    stained 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE   KINGDOM         333 

glass  windows  rich  in  religious  suggestiveness,  like  the 
elaborate  stone  carving  on  the  cathedrals  at  Chartres 
and  Amiens,  were  originally  meant  to  be  the  Bibles  of  the 
illiterate.  They  are  Bibles  still  for  children  who  study  the 
mysterious  figures  instead  of  listening  to  the  sermon. 

And  those  windows  had  best  be  given  not  solely  to 
representations  of  the  passive,  suffering  Christ  so  dear  to 
the  hearts  of  Christians  past  middle  life.  Let  there  be  also 
an  effective  portrayal  of  those  scenes  in  his  life  which  ap- 
peal to  the  active,  resolute,  heroic  element  in  the  life  of  the 
boy. 

The  Father's  house  should  be  a  house  of  prayer  and  of 
wholesome  meditation  for  all  nations  and  all  ages,  for  all 
moods  and  all  temperaments.  If  the  great  truths  of  the 
Bible  are  there  in  finely  colored  glass  it  may  be  that  when 
the  boy's  interest  in  the  sermon  flags  between  "  thirdly  " 
and  "  fourthly,"  his  eyes  will  behold  the  vision  of  glorious 
manhood  held  against  the  sun;  and  beholding  it  with  open 
face  and  mind  intent  he  may  be  changed  into  the  same 
image. 

The  boy's  interest  is  also  developed  by  an  active  partici- 
pation in  the  service,  the  hymns,  the  responses,  the  prayers. 
Boys  are  listless  when  they  might  be  ready  for  active 
participation  in  the  worship  of  the  hour  if  fewer  mature 
men  showed  themselves  silent  partners  in  the  august  busi- 
ness of  worship.  In  that  pew  where  the  father  joins 
heartily  in  the  singing  and  the  responses  the  boy  is  likely  to 
do  the  same.  But  the  man  whose  worshipful  interest  is 
entirely  exhausted  in  holding  up  one  side  of  the  hymn-book 
while  his  wife  reads  the  responses  and  sings  God's  praise  in 
her  gentler  soprano  is  teaching  every  boy  who  sees  him  that 
active  participation  in  the  worship  of  God's  house  is  not 
for  the  masculine  nature. 

The  Master  uttered  a  terrible  word  of  warning  to  those 


334  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

who  cause  the  immature  Hfe  to  stumble.  "It  were  better 
for  him  that  a  millstone  were  hanged  about  his  neck  and 
that  he  were  drowned  in  the  depth  of  the  sea.  Woe  unto 
the  world  because  of  offenses.  It  must  needs  be  that  of- 
lenses  come  "  — with  the  undeveloped  morals  of  the  race  it 
is  inevitable —  "  but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  offense 
cometh." 

How  far  have  we  laid  that  stern  counsel  to  heart!  What 
do  the  cotton  mills  in  the  South  employing  thousands  of 
little  children  under  fourteen  years  of  age  say?  What  do 
the  glass  factory  and  the  coal  breaker  in  Pennsylvania  and 
the  cigar  factories  in  West  Virginia  where  boys  of  twelve 
and  fourteen  are  working  to  their  mxoral  and  physical  detri- 
ment say?  What  does  any  shop  or  factory  which  steps  in 
to  rob  the  schoolroom  and  the  playground  by  its  economic 
greed  say? 

We  are  moving.  Public  sentiment  has  been  aroused  by 
books  and  magazine  articles.  Women's  Clubs  and  labor 
unions  have  promoted  a  wholesome  agitation.  The  cry 
of  the  working  child  has  pierced  the  thick  veil  of  ignorance 
and  indifference  which  once  made  his  position  hopeless. 
The  cry  of  the  child,  shrill,  feeble,  plaintive  because  he  is 
being  worked  too  soon  or  too  hard,  is  being  re-enforced 
by  the  mature  voice  of  Christian  sentiment. 

Child  labor  is  thrice  cursed!  It  curses  the  child  who 
performs  it.  It  curses  the  adult  men  and  women  who  are 
out  of  work,  having  been  thrust  aside  to  make  room  for 
cheap,  immature  labor.  It  curses  the  employer  who  dead- 
ens his  own  conscience  in  order  to  profit  by  the  exploita- 
tion of  the  helpless. 

There  are  certain  years  sacred  to  the  formation  of  cell 
and  tissue  necessary  to  the  growth  of  body  and  mind  if 
these  are  to  become  tall  and  broad,  sound  and  wise.  And 
much  of  this  process  must  be  carried  on  in  the  open  air 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         335 

where  children  love  to  play.  Where  a  child  of  tv/elve  is 
working  in  a  cotton  mill  breathing  cotton  waste  and  inhal- 
ing the  smell  of  machine  oil  ten  hours  a  day,  or  inhaling 
tobacco  dust  in  a  cigar  factory  or  coal  dust  on  the  breaker, 
this  normal,  physical  and  mental  unfolding  does  not  take 
place. 

And  the  moral  effects  of  child  labor  are  yet  more  serious. 
The  boy  doomed  to  monotonous  work  in  the  mill  when  he 
should  be  at  school  or  at  play  released  at  night  from  the 
grind  of  toil  most  readily  reacts  into  those  forms  of  vicious 
indulgence  which  are  damming.  The  employment  of  boys 
in  occupations  which  pave  the  way  for  moral  corruption, 
in  hotels  where  dissolute  men  and  v/omen  congregate,  in 
theaters  where  problem  plays  and  indecent  exhibitions'  are 
given,  in  messenger  service  where  young  lads  are  sent 
ofttimes  to  the  red  light  district,  is  altogether  vicious.  The 
Federal  Committee  on  Child  Labor  brought  out  the  fact 
that  messenger  boys  of  twelve  and  fourteen  are  more  than 
ready  to  be  sent  to  the  disreputable  districts  both  to  satisfy 
their  growing  curiosity  touching  matters  of  sex  and  be- 
cause of  the  generous  tips  and  the  presents  of  fruit  and 
candy  lavished  upon  them  by  dissolute  women. 

When  children  are  gathered  out  of  the  country  into  the 
city  to  work  in  mills  and  factories  it  Is  urged  in  defense  of 
the  practice  that  they  were  accustomed  to  work  on  the 
farms  whence  they  came.  But  working  out  of  doors  on  a 
farm,  with  the  intermissions  of  rainy  days  and  leisure  sea- 
sons, by  the  side  and  under  the  eye  of  a  father,  is  a  very 
different  thing  from  working  for  a  boss  in  the  stolid,  un- 
compromising labor  of  a  mill.  "  Letting  your  ov/n  child 
work  for  you  is  very  different  from  allowing  another  man 
to  work  your  child." 

The  Immature  cash  girls  in  many  of  our  department 
stores   make   a   pathetic  appeal.     A   divine   law   is  violated 


336  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

when  young  girls  of  twelve  and  fourteen  and  sixteen  are 
compelled  to  stand  all  day  long,  week  in  and  week  out, 
month  in  and  month  out.  A  divine  law  is  violated  which 
no  chamber  of  commerce  or  state  legislature  enacted  and 
which  no  human  organization  can  ever  repeal.  The  future 
vigor  and  character  of  a  large  section  of  the  human  race  is 
there  being  determined  and  society  cannot  afford  to  look 
with  indifference  upon  a  process  which  poisons  the  stream 
of  life  at  its  source. 

Jesus  set  the  child  in  the  midst  and  the  treatment  of  the 
child  has  become  an  index  of  the  civilization  of  any  land. 
Let  our  Christian  civilization  take  the  child  and  set  him 
in  the  forefront  of  its  interest,  safeguarding  his  physi- 
cal, mental  and  moral  unfolding  by  a  wise  and  generous 
nurture. 


LVI 
THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN 

Luke  10  :  25-37 

"  What  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life?  "  the  lawyer 
asked.  Jesus  invited  him  to  state  his  own  view  of  the 
matter —  "  How  readest  thou?  "  The  lawyer  glibly  recited 
the  two  commands  about  loving  God  and  loving  one's 
neighbor.  Jesus  assured  him  that  he  had  '*  answered  right" 
—  if  he  would  do  this  he  would  live. 

But  wishing  to  justify  himself  in  what  his  conscience  told 
him  had  been  a  selfish  life,  he  called  for  a  definition  of  the 
term,  "  Who  is  my  neighbor?  "  And  the  first  words  in 
that  great  answer  as  contained  in  this  splendid  parable 
were  these  —  "a  certain  man  "  — 

The  teaching  of  Christ  was  always  concrete.  He  never 
used  great  swelling  terms  such  as  "  philanthropic  interest  " 
or  "  altruistic  effort,"  as  the  manner  of  some  is  who  may 
not  have  learned  to  be  neighborly  with  the  "  certain  men  " 
whose  lives  they  touch.  There  is  no  "  humanity  "  to  be 
loved  and  served  —  only  certain  men.  There  is  no  im- 
personal or  abstract  neighbor  to  be  loved  —  the  only  reality 
in  the  case  is  "  a  certain  man."  The  picture  of  neighbor- 
liness  drawn  here  serves  to  bring  the  second  great  com- 
mandment down  out  of  the  clouds  and  back  out  of  the  fog 
of  vague  generalities,  making  it  effective  by  directing  it 
toward  "  certain  men." 

"Who  is  my  neighbor?"  A  certain  man;  a  man  near 
you;  a  man  who  needs  you;  a  man  whom  you  have  it  in 
your  power  to  help!     The  readiness  to  meet  the  needs  of 

337 


338  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

each  situation  as  it  arises  becomes  the  measure  of  each 
man's  love. 

The  "  certain  man  "  varies  from  hour  to  hour.  Life  is 
made  up  of  new  occasions  and  fresh  opportunities.  The 
Samaritan  riding  along  toward  Jericho  did  not  know  any- 
thing about  the  wounded  traveler,  but  a  bend  in  the  road 
brought  him  face  to  face  with  a  fresh  call  for  service. 
Here  was  a  new  neighbor  whom  he  was  called  upon  to 
love!  The  responsibilities  which  attach  to  the  neighborly 
spirit  cannot  be  laid  down  in  advance  by  hard  and  fast 
lines  —  they  are  constantly  shifting. 

There  were  two  men  on  that  Jericho  Road,  the  priest 
and  the  Levite,  who  belonged  to  that  innumerable  com- 
pany who  "  look  on."  The  priest  was  brutally  cold  — 
he  passed  by  with  a  hurried  glance.  But  the  Levite  came 
and  "  looked  at "  the  suffering  man,  inquired  his  name 
perhaps,  asked  how  many  robbers  there  were  and  how 
much  of  his  money  they  took.  Then  having  gotten  all  the 
particulars  and  having  expressed  his  great  regret  that  such 
things  were  permitted  in  this  wicked  world,  he  too  passed 
by  on  the  other  side. 

The  men  who  idly  look  on  may  oftentimes  m^ake  a  fair 
show  in  the  flesh.  They  express  themselves  on  occasion 
in  such  a  way  as  to  indicate  that  they  are  men  of  excellent 
sentiments  and  of  fine  feeling.  They  meet  and  organize, 
adopting  constitutions  and  by-laws  and  appointing  exten- 
sive committees.  They  hear  addresses  and  discuss  papers 
and  eat  big  dinners  in  the  cause  of  human  betterment. 
They  are  eager  to  vote  for  ringing  resolutions  on  the  sub- 
ject both  hands  up.  And  then  after  going  through  all  the 
motions  and  indulging  in  a  lot  of  fruitless  talk,  they  pass 
by,  having  accomplished  nothing. 

The  idle  exercise  of  pity  quickly  shades  off  into  unwhole- 
some  self-indulgence.     The   professional   funeral   goers,    the 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         339 

"  slumming  parties  "  who  go,  not  to  collect  data  for  useful 
effort,  but  to  gratify  their  curiosity,  the  first  cabin  pas- 
sengers by  sea  or  by  land  who  go  down  into  the  steerage 
that  they  may  give  their  sympathies  an  airing,  the  morbid 
natures  delighting  in  problem  plays  and  shady  novels 
which  give  them  the  excitement  of  an  excursion  into  the 
realm  of  vice  without  the  fear  of  open  disgrace,  all  these 
Levites  who  come  close  to  misery,  study  it,  gaze  upon  it, 
photograph  it  with  their  kodaks  and  then  pass  by  with  no 
effort  at  practical  relief,  are  held  up  to  scorn  in  that  telling 
phrase  of  the  Master  —  "Looked  on  him  and  passed  by." 

There  is  an  idle,  speculative,  on-looking  interest  in  politics 
also  which  enrolls  its  quota  of  Levites.  These  intense  lov- 
ers of  pure  municipal  government  are  willing  to  read  the 
Nation  regularly;  they  applaud  mightily  when  some  pun- 
gent orator  scores  the  bosses.  They  hold  up  their  hands  in 
pious  horror  over  the  doings  of  Tammany.  They  beat  upon 
their  breasts  and  rend  their  garments  at  the  very  mention 
of  certain  iniquities  down  at  the  City  Hall,  or  up  at  the 
State  House. 

Yet  somehow  they  lack  stomach  and  zeal  to  get  down 
from  their  high  horses  of  condemnation  in  order  to  do  the 
bloody,  dusty  work  of  getting  the  robbed  and  wounded 
city  government  upon  its  feet.  They  are  unwilling  to 
grapple  at  arm's  length  with  primaries,  caucuses  and  ward 
organization  in  the  interest  of  clean  politics.  They  come 
over  and  look  upon  the  distressing  situation  and  then 
with  the  detached  Levite  pass  by  on  the  other  side. 

When  the  Samaritan  appeared  on  the  scene  he  struck 
another  note.  Heretic  though  he  was,  he  felt  an  instant 
compassion  for  that  helpless  man.  He  got  off  and  went  to 
him.  He  bound  up  his  wounds,  pouring  in  oil  and  wine  — 
a  little  oil  to  make  the  bandages  soft,  and  a  little  wine 
down  the  man's  throat  perhaps  to  revive  him,  for  he  was 


340  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

"  half  dead."  He  finally  got  the  man  up  "  and  set  him  on 
his  own  beast  "  and  took  him  along  to  an  inn.  He  was 
ready  to  walk  that  a  needier  man  might  ride. 

He  unconsciously,  as  Dr.  Peabody  has  pointed  out,  ful- 
filled the  various  demands  in  the  program  of  modern 
scientific  relief  work.  He  felt  at  the  start  that  humane 
sympathy  which  is  the  driving  force  of  all  charitable  effort. 
He  brought  temporary  relief  to  one  who  would  have  died 
without  it.  He  then  wisely  removed  the  sufferer  to  restora- 
tive conditions.  He  furthermore  provided  for  continuity 
of  effort  —  "Take  care  of  him,"  he  said  to  the  innkeeper, 
"  and  I  will  repay  thee,"  giving  his  money,  not  to  "  the 
case,"  but  to  the  institution. 

Here  is  a  full-page,  life-size  picture  of  what  Christian 
service  means!  It  is  personal;  it  is  self-sacrificing;  it  is 
ready  to  get  off  that  a  needier  man  may  ride;  it  will  suffer 
delay  and  inconvenience  to  accomplish  its  end;  it  will 
take  hold  of  men  who  are  bloody  and  dusty,  becoming 
bloody  and  dusty  itself  in  order  to  help  them. 

Most  of  us  are  mounted.  We  may  not  be  riding  in  a 
coach  and  six,  but  each  one  has  at  least  what  the  Samari- 
tan had,  a  small  Syrian  donkey  under  him.  We  have  some 
money,  more  than  enough  to  suffice  for  actual  needs.  We 
have  homes,  not  palaces  perhaps,  but  places  of  peace  and 
comfort  —  and  it  is  a  great  help  to  a  man  in  making  the 
journey  of  life  to  be  mounted  on  a  good  home.  We  have 
intelligence  —  not  as  much  as  we  wish,  but  enough  to  be  of 
great  service.  We  have  some  measure  of  goodness  —  noth- 
ing prancing  or  showy,  but  like  the  Samaritan's  donkey, 
plain,  quiet,  useful,  every-day  goodness. 

We  ride  along  on  these  advantages  of  ours  and  see  men 
by  the  roadside  robbed,  wounded  and  left  helpless.  They 
have  been  injured  in  mind,  body  and  estate.  There  they 
are,  scattered  along  the  side  of  the  road!     They  will  not 


THE   PARABLES  OF  THE   KINGDOM         341 

be  able  to  complete  their  journey  without  some  friendly 
lift.  And  the  chance  of  inheriting  eternal  life,  according 
to  this  teaching,  turns  upon  each  man's  willingness  to  get 
down  and  set  some  needy  life  upon  his  own  beast,  thus 
enabling  him  to  live. 

It  is  neither  difficult  nor  noble  for  a  healthy,  well-born, 
intelligent  man  to  ride  his  own  donkey  from  Jericho  up  to 
the  New  Jerusalem,  robbing  no  one,  wounding  no  one, 
simply  riding  and  letting  ride.  But  this  is  not  the  way  to 
inherit  eternal  life.  The  man  who  rides  up  to  the  gate  of 
heaven  comfortably  mounted  on  his  own  advantages, 
bought  and  paid  for  though  they  may  have  been,  without 
having  used  them  along  the  way  to  aid  other  less  fortunate 
men  in  reaching  the  gate  of  heaven,  may  find  the  gate  shut. 
The  very  essence  of  Christianity  is  the  willingness  to  get 
down  from  off  some  advantage  which  rightfully  belongs  to 
us  in  order  to  set  some  needy  man  upon  it. 

"  Have  this  mind  in  you  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus." 
He  was  in  the  form  of  God  and  counted  it  not  a  prize  to 
be  on  an  equality  with  God.  But  he  made  himself  of  no 
reputation.  He  took  upon  himself  the  form  of  a  servant. 
He  dismounted  and  became  obedient  to  the  demands  of  a 
most  exacting  service,  even  the  death  of  the  cross.  Where- 
fore God  and  men  alike  have  highly  exalted  him  until  his 
name  is  above  every  name! 

How  ugly  is  the  sight  of  the  man  who  thinks  that  the 
chief  end  of  man  is  to  save  his  own  soul  and  enjoy  it  for- 
ever! He  picks  out  some  statement  of  theological  belief, 
saddles  and  bridles  it  with  certain  emotional  experiences 
through  which  he  has  confidently  passed;  he  then  mounts 
it  and  rides  serenely  toward  what  he  believes  to  be  the 
New  Jerusalem.  He  feels  sorry  for  the  moral  failures  on 
the  roadside,  helpless  and  half-dead  in  their  sinful  unbelief. 
He  may  offer  a  prayer  for  them  or  perhaps  hand  each  one 


342  THE    MASTER'S  WAY 

a  tract  as  he  passes,  but  he  rides  on  secure  and  happy  in 
his  own  spiritual  advantages.  That  man's  religion  is  vain, 
and  the  place  where  he  is  liable  to  bring  up  is  not  called 
"  The  New  Jerusalem." 

This  passage  indicates  the  power  of  that  plain  kindness 
which  has  upon  it  no  fringe  or  border  of  direct  religious  ex- 
hortation. The  parable  has  seemed  defective  to  certain 
high  and  dry  minds  in  that  this  lawyer  inquiring  the  w^ay 
of  eternal  life  is  simply  shov/n  the  picture  of  the  kindly 
Samaritan  and  told  to  "  go  and  do  likewise."  It  seems 
perilous  to  leave  the  account  without  a  single  note  of  warning 
touching  his  Samaritan  heresies. 

But  that  is  the  ^yay  Jesus  left  it  —  he  had  a  wonderful 
faith  in  the  transcendent  power  of  self-sacrifice.  He  exalted 
the  significance  of  that  kindness  which  is  personal,  heart- 
felt, loving.  The  most  sanguine  words  Jesus  ever  uttered 
touching  the  prospects  of  his  Kingdom  were  these:  "And 
I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth  will  draw  all  men  unto 
me.  This  he  said  signifying  what  death  he  should  die." 
It  was  the  sober  estimate  of  the  Son  of  God  upon  the 
power  of  self-sacrificing  love. 


LVII 

THE  PERSISTENT  PRAYER 

Luke  11  : 1-13 

"  As  he  was  praying  in  a  certain  place  one  of  his  disciples 
said,  Lord,  teach  us  to  pray."  They  had  never  heard  it  in 
that  fashion.  He  prayed  as  never  man  prayed.  It  is 
significant  that  we  have  no  record  of  their  asking,  "  Lord, 
teach  us  to  preach,"  or,  "  Teach  us  to  heal,"  though 
preaching  and  healing  both  lay  within  their  prescribed 
duties.  They  went  back  of  these  outward  expressions  of 
spiritual  life  to  the  source  of  life  itself.  "  Teach  us  to 
pray!  " 

"When  ye  pray  say,  Our"  —  the  first  word  in  the  peti- 
tion must  be  an  unselfish  expression  of  sympathy  with  the 
needs  of  others.  The  second  word  in  the  petition  would 
bring  that  sympathy  up  to  the  source  of  help  —  "Our 
Father." 

How  much  it  means  that  this  model  prayer  does  not 
open  with  the  word  "  I  "  or  "  My."  Self-interest  is  not 
thrust  into  the  foreground.  The  personal  claims  are  merged 
in  that  larger  request  which  is  voiced  in  the  word  "  Our." 

When  Henry  Ward  Beecher  lectured  at  Yale  he  told  the 
boys  that  it  was  his  custom  while  the  choir  was  singing 
just  before  the  prayer  in  Plymouth  Church  to  allow  his 
eyes  to  range  freely  over  the  congregation.  Here  was  a 
family  where  sorrow  had  pulled  down  every  shade  in  the 
house,  shutting  out  all  sunshine!  Here  was  a  man  carrying 
a  heavy  load  which  made  him  stagger!  Here  was  a  brave 
woman  wearing  a  smile  on  her  face,  for  the  sake  of  those 

343 


344  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

other  lives,  when  her  heart  was  like  lead!  Here  was  a 
young  fellow  fighting  all  the  wild  beasts  Paul  saw  at 
Ephesus  in  the  temptations  he  had  to  meet!  Here  were 
people  snug,  prosperous,  contented,  in  peril  of  damnation 
through  "  fatty  degeneration  of  the  soul."  Here  was  a 
congregation  massing  up  all  the  needs  in  the  moral  calendar! 
Just  to  look  at  them  with  that  expectancy  in  their  faces 
and  the  unspoken  needs  hidden  away  in  their  hearts 
brought  the  soul  of  the  preacher  into  a  sympathetic  mood. 
When  he  stood  up  to  pray  it  was  easy  for  him  to  say, 
"  Our." 

When  ye  pray,  look  not  every  man  on  his  own  things, 
but  every  man  also  on  the  things  of  others.  When  you 
enter  your  closet  and  shut  the  door,  you  are  not  to  shut 
out  your  neighbor's  needs  —  you  cannot  pray  aright  if 
you  do.  The  fervent  effectual  prayer  of  *'  a  rightened 
man "  which  availeth  much  springs  ever  from  a  heart 
possessed  by  sympathy. 

Dr.  Jowett  once  said  that  "  our  spiritual  bread  would 
taste  sweeter  if  we  invited  more  guests  to  the  table  we 
seek  to  spread  through  our  devotions."  It  has  an  enliven- 
ing effect  upon  the  home  table  to  see  new  faces  there  oc- 
casionally and  to  know  that  others  are  sharing  in  the  joys 
of  the  family  circle.  Be  hospitable  if  you  would  see  your 
spiritual  table  spread  profusely  by  the  hands  which  blessed 
the  loaves  and  broke  them.  Invite  into  your  personal 
devotions  those  lives  which  are  faltering  in  their  struggle  — 
put  your  faith  and  hope  under  them  that  they  may  not 
fail.  It  will  keep  your  petitions  from  becoming  stale  and 
monotonous  if  you  constantly  introduce  new  faces,  new 
interests,  new  fields  of  activity  to  your  prayerful  heart. 

When  you  begin  your  prayer,  say  "  Our  Father "  — 
for  prayer  is  the  act  of  a  child  entering  into  companion- 
ship   with    his    father.     How    natural    and    rational    it    is 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         345 

therefore.  The  boy  who  never  speaks  to  his  father  is 
both  wicked  and  morbid.  We  make  our  prayerful  requests 
with  filial  freedom  and  confidence,  but  they  must  proceed 
from  filial  hearts.  We  must  stand  before  God  in  reverent, 
obedient  trust  in  order  to  utter  even  the  first  two  words 
of  that  familiar  prayer.  We  must  have  found  our  places 
in  his  house,  at  his  table,  in  his  service,  as  obedient  chil- 
dren, before  the  total  nature  can  look  up  and  say,  "  Our 
Father." 

The  Lord's  Prayer  contains  but  one  petition  for  material 
blessing  and  that  modestly  limits  itself  to  asking  for  one 
day's  bread  for  the  immediate  need.  The  other  five  peti- 
tions are  for  the  hallowing  of  the  divine  in  all  our  thoughts 
and  all  our  attitudes;  for  the  coming  of  that  rule  of  the 
divine  spirit  which  shall  usher  in  God's  Kingdom;  for  the 
doing  of  his  will  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven;  for 
forgiveness  to  be  granted  to  those  souls  which  in  their 
turn  show  themselves  forgiving;  and  for  such  guidance 
and  help  as  will  issue  in  deliverance  from  evil.  This  fur- 
nishes the  "  norm "  of  appropriate  petition.  The  model 
prayer  moves  mainly  in  the  realm  of  spiritual  values  and 
all  prayer  offered  after  the  method  and  in  the  spirit  of 
Christ  will  place  its  emphasis  after  this  manner. 

We  have  Scriptural  warrant  for  praying  in  regard  to 
interests  other  than  those  directly  spiritual,  but  it  should 
be  done  always  with  an  eye  to  the  bearing  of  those  benefits 
on  the  coming  of  his  Kingdom.  The  material  advantages 
sought  for  stand  subordinate  to  the  spiritual  benefits  which 
are  the  supreme  ends  to  be  gained.  Pray  for  health,  if 
you  will,  for  intelligence,  for  opportunities,  for  the  success 
of  all  legitimate  plans,  that  in  and  through  these  you  may 
the  more  perfectly  glorify  God  as  a  useful  servant  of  his 
holy  will.  Let  the  farmer  pray  for  rain  if  he  will  to  save 
his  crops.     However  much  or  little  his  petitions  may  affect 


346  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

the  weather  —  this  lies  beyond  our  ken  —  he  may  be  sure 
that  his  prayer  will  deepen  a  spiritual  relation  of  more 
value  than  many  crops.  He  will  by  his  devotions  strengthen 
that  relationship  which  will  yield  thirty,  sixty,  perchance 
a  hundredfold  in  terms  of  a  priceless  harvest. 

Jesus  related  this  parable  to  indicate  what  perseverance 
would  accomplish  in  the  face  of  unfavorable  conditions. 
A  selfish,  grumpy  man  was  in  bed  at  midnight.  His 
neighbor  came  to  the  door  to  ask  for  a  loaf  of  bread  to  set 
before  a  hungry  guest  who  unexpectedly  had  fallen  upon 
an  empty  larder.  The  sour,  crabbed  fellow  did  not  be- 
grudge him  the  bread  —  when  once  he  was  up  he  gave  him 
as  much  as  was  wanted  —  but  he  disliked  the  trouble  of 
getting  out  of  bed;  he  was  afraid  of  waking  the  baby,  for 
his  "children  were  with  him  in  bed";  he  shunned  the 
discomfort  of  coming  to  the  door  in  the  darkness  and  cold 
of  the  night. 

But  because  that  neighbor  persisted  in  knocking  until 
the  selfish  man  could  not  sleep,  he  rose  and  gave  him  what 
he  wanted.  The  Master  was  not  undertaking  to  represent 
God  by  this  selfish,  sour-hearted  churl.  He  was  indicating 
what  persistence  and  perseverance  would  accomplish  even 
in  the  face  of  adverse  conditions. 

In  the  parable  the  obstacles  to  be  overcome  were  within, 
lodged  in  the  heart  of  that  unobliging  man.  In  the  case 
of  prayer  to  God  the  obstacles  are  on  the  other  side  of  the 
closed  door  —  they  are  in  us.  The  obstacles  are  to  be 
found  in  our  own  selfishness,  in  our  distrust,  in  our  sins, 
which  hinder  us  when  we  attempt  to  offer  that  fervent, 
effectual,  availing  prayer. 

But  here  as  there  perseverance  triumphs  over  obstacles. 
If  a  man  will  ask  and  keep  on  asking;  if  he  will  seek  and 
keep  on  seeking;  if  he  will  knock  at  that  closed  door  and 
keep    on    knocking,    the    very    persistence    of    his    spiritual 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         347 

appeal  will  bring  that  quality  of  life  where  he  will  "  re- 
ceive "  and  "  find  "  and  see  the  closed  door  "  opened." 

The  argument  of  Jesus  in  this  parable  was  to  this  effect: 
If  God  were  no  better  than  this  sour  and  selfish  man  who 
was  unwilling  to  disturb  himself  in  order  to  do  a  favor  for 
a  neighbor  in  an  emergency,  it  would  still  be  worth  our 
while  to  ask  him  for  what  we  need  —  persistent  asking  over- 
comes obstacles.  How  much  more  when  the  One  we  ask 
is  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ! 

The  warrant  for  asking  and  the  assurance  of  success  are 
to  be  found  in  the  unstudied  and  abiding  instincts  of 
earthly  parents.  "  If  a  son  ask  bread  of  any  of  you  that  is 
a  father  will  he  give  him  a  stone?  If  he  ask  a  fish  will  he 
give  him  a  serpent?  If  he  ask  an  egg  will  he  give  him  a 
scorpion?  If  ye  then  being  evil  give  good  gifts  unto  your 
children,  how  much  more  will  your  Heavenly  Father  give 
good  things  to  them  that  ask  Him." 

The  children  were  asking  for  "  good  things,"  for  neces- 
sary things  — "  bread,  fish,  eggs,"  and  not  for  luxuries 
and  bric-a-brac.  When  we  pray  for  those  plain,  universal 
necessities  to  gain  sustenance  and  direction  for  the  inner 
life,  we  may  pray  with  the  same  hearty  confidence  which 
accompanies  the  natural  requests  of  healthy  children  in  a 
well  ordered  home. 

Hear  the  argument  of  John  Fiske  for  the  validity  of 
spiritual  experience.  The  subjective  powers  in  man  have 
always  been  developed,  he  says,  with  reference  to  objective 
realities.  "  The  eye  was  developed  in  response  to  the  out- 
ward existence  of  radiant  light;  the  ear  in  response  to  the 
outward  existence  of  acoustic  vibrations;  the  mother  love 
came  in  response  to  the  infant's  need.  Every  stage  of  enlarge- 
ment has  had  reference  to  actual  existences  outside;  every- 
where the  internal  adjustment  has  been  brought  about  so  as 
to  harmonize  with  some  actually  existing  external  fact." 


348  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

"  Now  if  the  relation  thus  established  in  the  twilight  of 
man's  existence  between  the  human  soul  and  a  world  im- 
material and  invisible  is  a  relation  of  which  only  the  sub- 
jective term  is  real  and  the  objective  term  non-existent, 
then  I  say  it  is  something  utterly  without  precedent  in  the 
whole  creation." 

If  the  capacity  of  man  for  fellowship  with  God  through 
prayer  is  real  only  at  our  end  of  the  line  and  unreal  at  the 
other,  then  it  is  an  utter  break  in  the  whole  method  dis- 
cerned in  the  uniformities  of  nature.  It  is  the  verdict  of 
this  philosopher  therefore  and  of  an  ever  growing  volume 
of  valid  human  testimony  that  there  is  an  everlasting 
reality  in  the  relation  of  the  human  soul  to  God.  Wherefore 
men  ought  always  to  pray. 


LVIII 
WHERE  YOUR  TREASURE  IS! 

Luke  12  :  13-34 

The  Gospel  of  Luke  is  the  most  radical  of  the  four 
touching  the  perils  of  property.  He  sees  the  constant 
liability  of  the  successful  to  fall  into  a  haughty,  showy, 
self-satisfied  mode  of  life  fatal  to  Christian  character.  He 
alone  records  the  parables  of  *'  Dives  and  Lazarus,"  of 
"  The  Unjust  Steward  "  and  of  the  "  Foolish  Rich  Man." 
His  version  of  Jesus'  sayings  about  wealth  are  much  more 
radical  than  are  the  parallel  passages  in  Matthew.  His 
warnings  to  those  whose  pleasure  in  material  things  has 
dulled  the  conscience  are  the  plainest  in  Scripture. 

His  fundamental  principle  may  be  found  in  these  words 
of  Christ  —  "A  man's  life  consists  not  in  the  abundance  of 
the  things  he  possesses."  No  life  can  be  judged  by  the 
pile  of  things  it  has  amassed.  Each  life  is  to  be  judged 
by  the  use  it  makes  of  the  things,  by  the  sort  of  relation 
that  use  establishes  between  the  owner  and  his  fellows. 

"  How  much  is  that  man  worth?  "  The  reply  commonly 
comes  back  in  a  statement  as  to  the  value  of  the  things  he 
owns.  This  is  what  you  wished  to  know  perhaps,  but  it 
tells  you  nothing  about  the  worth  of  the  man  —  it  only 
tells  you  the  price  of  the  things. 

The  man  may  be  worth  a  great  deal  —  if  he  has  been 
doing  justly,  loving  mercy  and  walking  humbly  with  God, 
he  has  great  value  in  addition  to  all  the  things  he  may 
possess.  If  he  has  been  unjust,  hard,  selfish,  then  he  is 
scarcely  worth  anything.     The  worth  of  the  man  turns  upon 

349 


350  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

his  qualities  of  mind  and  heart,  upon  the  amount  of  good 
he  has  done  and  the  sort  of  character  he  has  won. 

"  There  is  no  real  wealth  but  life,"  Ruskin  said  —  "  life 
with  all  its  powers  of  love,  joy,  admiration.  That  country 
is  richest  which  nourishes  the  largest  number  of  noble  and 
happy  human  beings.  That  man  is  richest  who  has  the 
widest  and  deepest  influence  for  good  upon  the  lives  of 
others."  The  life  is  ever  a  thing  personal  and  apart  from 
the  things  possessed,  be  they  many  or  be  they  few. 

In  urging  this  plain  truth  Jesus  sought  to  allay  the 
anxiety  which  many  people  feel  touching  their  possessions 
"  Be  not  anxious  what  ye  shall  eat  or  drink  or  put  on." 
These  are  not  matters  of  indifference  —  the  Heavenly 
Father  knows  that  we  have  need  of  all  these  things  — 
but  they  are  not  the  main  issues.  Yet  how  many  people 
boost  these  questions  into  an  unwarranted  prominence. 

"  What  shall  we  eat?  "  How  much  of  it?  How  costly 
shall  the  dining-room  be  where  we  eat  it  and  the  kitchen 
where  it  is  prepared?  How  many  servants  shall  we  keep  to 
cook  and  to  serve  it?  How  much  shall  we  spend  on  the 
linen  and  the  china,  the  silver  and  the  cut  glass  we  use  in 
getting  it  down  our  throats?  There  are  well-to-do  people 
who  live  in  a  chronic  state  of  anxiety  over  these  questions 
which  have  to  do  with  eating. 

"  What  shall  we  put  on?  "  and  what  is  still  more  vital, 
"  How  will  it  look  when  we  get  it  on?  "  How  numerous,  how 
costly  and  of  what  particular  style  shall  these  all-important 
garments  be?  The  simple  question  of  clothes  eats  up  a 
large  section  of  the  time,  thought  and  money  in  many  a  life. 

Whole  sections  of  modern  society  are  kept  on  a  tension  — 
the  men  in  making  the  necessary  money  and  the  women  in 
spending  it  —  by  these  two  plain  questions  as  to  what  shall 
go  into  these  bodies  of  ours  and  what  shall  be  wrapped 
around  them. 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         351 

Yet  what  simple  matters  they  are!  It  does  not  require 
much  food  to  maintain  health  and  strength.  John  Muir 
takes  a  bag  of  bread,  a  piece  of  bacon,  a  handful  of  tea 
and  goes  off  in  the  Sierra  Nevada  mountains  for  a  month  — 
and  with  all  his  exposure  he  abides  in  health  and  strength 
at  a  ripe  old  age.  We  have  made  eating  unnecessarily- 
difficult  with  elaborate  dishes  alike  perilous  to  purse  and 
to  stomach. 

We  have  also  made  the  outer  wrappings  of  these  bodies 
of  ours  a  veritable  burden  of  anxiety.  We  must  wear  some- 
thing for  comfort,  for  decency,  for  beauty,  but  how  difficult 
and  expensive  we  have  made  the  matter  of  covering  the 
human  body!  Display  is  the  ruling  idea  rather  than 
comfort.  And  all  the  costly,  irritating,  vulgar  display  in 
this  matter  of  dress,  with  the  consequent  fret  and  fuss, 
is  in  flat  defiance  of  the  Master's  word. 

In  the  face  of  this  fretted,  worried  habit  of  mind,  Jesus 
pointed  to  the  birds  and  to  the  flowers.  "  Consider  the 
ravens  —  they  neither  sow  nor  reap,  yet  God  feeds  them. 
Consider  the  lilies,  how  they  grow  —  they  toil  not  nor 
spin,  yet  God  clothes  them.  Ye  are  much  better  than 
they." 

Sweet  and  beautiful  ideals  these  are,  but  to  many  a  busy 
person  they  seem  futile.  He  cannot  be  a  lily  or  a  raven 
and  do  his  work.  He  throws  out  the  whole  passage  as  a 
piece  of  sentimental  idealism  uttered  by  an  Oriental 
dreamer  and  entirely  unsuited  to  this  active  Western 
world.  Thus  men  take  the  letter  of  Scripture  which  killeth 
and  neglect  the  spirit  which  maketh  alive. 

The  lily  does  not  toil  nor  spin  —  it  was  not  made  to  toil 
and  spin.  It  does  the  things  it  was  made  to  do.  It 
reaches  down  into  the  soil  claiming  its  nourishment.  It 
looks  up  steadily  into  the  face  of  the  sun  claiming  light 
and  warmth.    It  opens  wide  its  leaves  to  the  rain  and  the  dew, 


352  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

drinking  the  water  of  heaven.  So  it  grows!  It  lives  out 
its  lilyhood  and  God  clothes  it  with  beauty. 

The  ravens  do  not  sow  nor  reap  —  they  were  not  made 
to  sow  nor  reap,  nor  are  they  impelled  to  build  storehouses 
and  barns.  They  do  the  things  they  were  meant  to  do. 
They  fly  about,  keen  of  eye  and  strong  of  wing,  seeking 
their  meat  from  God.  And  in  the  great  abiding  order 
which  enfolds  them  they  find  their  food.  They  live  out 
their  ravenhood  and  God  feeds  them. 

Live  out  your  m.anhood  and  your  womanhood,  doing 
the  things  you  were  meant  to  do  and  God  will  feed  and 
clothe  you!  You  v/ill  not  cease  toiling  and  spinning  — 
you  were  not  made  to  be  lilies.  You  will  not  give  up 
sowing  and  reaping  —  you  were  not  made  to  be  ravens. 
You  will  strive  for  your  self-realization  along  the  line  of  the 
divine  purpose  for  you.  And  when  you  do  just  that,  you 
will  be  lifted  above  the  fret  and  worry  into  a  serene  peace. 
In  the  great  abiding  order  which  enfolds  your  life,  you  too 
v/ill  be  fed  and  clothed.  Seek  first  the  sway  and  rule  of 
the  divine  spirit  in  your  life,  bringing  it  into  that  harmony 
which  the  birds  and  the  flowers  show  with  his  purpose  for 
you  and  all  things  necessary  will  be  added. 

The  Master  was  moved  to  utter  this  great  principle  by 
the  impatient  word  of  a  man  who  said,  "  Master,  speak  to 
my  brother  that  he  divide  the  inheritance  with  me."  The 
father  had  died  leaving  an  estate  over  which  the  sons  had 
quarreled  after  the  manner  of  some.  Jesus  answered,  "Who 
made  me  a  judge  or  a  divider  over  you?"  No  one  had. 
The  Master  declined  to  pass  upon  the  division  of  the  estate. 

But  he  had  something  to  say  to  both  disputants  — 
"  Beware  of  covetousness."  He  would  warn  both  parties 
against  that  selfish,  short-sighted  exaltation  of  material 
values  to  the  supreme  place  which  ever  arrays  men  in 
antagonism. 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         353 

The  Christian  Church  does  not  undertake  to  be  a  judge 
or  a  divider  in  economic  disputes.  The  employes  in  a 
given  industry  may  demand  higher  wages  while  the  em- 
ployer maintains  that  he  is  paying  all  that  the  business 
warrants.  The  church  does  not  undertake  to  pass  upon  the 
economic  question  as  to  the  proper  amount  of  wages. 
But  it  has  something  to  say  to  both  parties.  Beware 
of  covetousness! 

The  Christian  employer  is  in  duty  bound  to  pay  in  wages 
an  equitable  share  of  the  returns  of  the  industry  to  those 
plain  toilers  who  help  maintain  it  and  not  retain  an  unfair 
amount  of  the  joint  product  for  his  own  showy  luxuries. 
Wage-earners  are  in  duty  bound  to  accept  those  wages  which 
can  be  shown  to  be  equitable  and  not  insist  upon  a  scale 
that  would  destroy  the  industry  which  affords  them  a  liveli- 
hood. The  exact  amount  of  the  wage  must  be  determined 
by  sound  economic  judgment  in  the  light  of  all  the  facts, 
but  the  spirit  in  which  that  question  is  discussed  and  de- 
termined is  a  constant  and  an  immediate  object  of  the 
Church's  concern. 

There  was  a  man  who  gained  more  than  his  barns  would 
hold.  He  tore  them  all  down  and  built  greater.  He  then 
speedily  filled  those  bigger  barns.  He  estimated  his  own 
well-being  in  terms  of  that  which  is  to  be  found  in  barns. 
He  said  to  his  inner  life:  "  Take  thine  ease!  Thou  hast 
enough  laid  up  to  last  for  years.     Eat,  drink,  be  merry." 

God  bluntly  called  him  "  Thou  fool."  And  the  discrimi- 
nating part  of  the  world  calls  him  "  fool."  And  in  the 
clearer  light  of  that  morning  which  followed  upon  the  night 
when  his  soul  was  required  of  him,  he  called  himself  all 
kinds  of  a  ''  fool." 

"This  night  thy  soul  shall  be  required  —  then  whose 
shall  those  things  be?  "  Not  his  surely,  for  he  could  carry 
none  of  them  with  him.     Not  his  surely,  for  he  had  not 


354  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

used  them  to  develop  character  in  his  own  life  or  in  the 
lives  of  other  men  whose  interests  were  bound  up  with  his 
own.  He  had  given  his  life  to  the  filling  of  barns  and 
now  in  the  presence  of  those  searching  standards  which 
have  to  do  with  moral  and  spiritual  values,  he  found  him- 
self destitute  indeed.  "So  is  every  one  who  lays  up  for 
himself  and  is  not  rich  toward  God!  " 

The  highest  word  of  commendation  in  scripture  touching 
the  use  of  property  was  spoken,  not  to  the  generous  alms- 
giver,  but  to  the  wise  and  faithful  steward  administering 
his  possessions  with  such  intelligence  and  conscience  as  to 
make  them  a  blessing  to  the  entire  community.  The  giv- 
ing outright  of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  charity  is  an 
easier  and  a  lower  task  than  the  investment  of  that  amount 
in  some  useful  industry  to  be  so  maintained  as  to  give  health- 
ful, remunerative  employment  to  a  hundred  human  beings. 
This  higher,  harder  task  is  the  work  of  the  faithful  steward 
who  comes  in  for  a  royal  benediction. 


LIX 
THE  FIDELITY  OF  THE  SERVANT 

Luke  12  :  35-48 

"  Blessed  are  those  servants  whom  their  Lord  when  he 
Cometh  shall  find  watching."  Their  master  had  tarried 
late  at  a  wedding,  but  meanwhile  the  servants  were  on 
duty.  They  had  their  long,  flowing  Eastern  robes  tucked 
into  their  girdles  and  their  lamps  lighted.  When  the 
Master  returned  and  knocked,  they  were  ready  to  "  open 
unto  him  immediately." 

It  was  a  simple,  commonplace  service  they  rendered, 
just  as  the  larger  part  of  what  we  all  do  six  days  in  the 
week,  not  to  say  seven,  is  thoroughly  commonplace.  The 
housekeeper  makes  beds  which  have  already  been  made 
hundreds  of  times,  and  they  will  all  have  to  be  made  again 
tomorrow  morning.  The  business  man  goes  to  his  store 
to  talk  about  sales,  figure  on  contracts  and  v/rite  letters, 
the  same  sort  of  sales,  contracts  and  letters  to  which  he 
has  been  giving  attention  for  years.  The  teacher  enters  her 
schoolroom  to  face  forty  restless  urchins,  the  same  sort  of 
urchins  she  has  been  facing  ever  since  she  was  elected, 
none  of  them  eager  to  be  educated,  but  all  of  them  looking 
upon  her  as  the  common  enemy.  The  minister  enters  his 
study  to  prepare  two  more  sermons  for  next  Sunday  — 
he  has  been  busy  for  the  last  twenty  years  "  getting  ready 
for  next  Sunday,"  and  here  he  is  doing  it  again. 

It  is  not  given  to  many  people  in  any  generation  to  do- 
startling,  heroic  or  m.emorable  things.  You  could  get  all 
the    remarkable    people    in    any    century    into    one    small 

355 


356  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

building,  leaving  the  rest  of  the  human  race  outside  doing 
commonplace  things.  We  are  like  the  switch  engines  down 
in  the  freight  yard  —  we  are  never  hitched  to  the  "Over- 
land Limited  "  to  draw  it  swiftly  and  surely  across  the 
continent  until  it  lands  its  passengers  at  the  Golden  Gate. 
We  are  puffing  to  and  fro  within  the  limits  of  a  narrow 
yard,  doing  the  plain  work  which  somebody  must  do  if  the 
great  traffic  of  human  existence  is  to  be  carried  along. 

But  when  these  homely  tasks  are  done  with  watchfulness 
and  fidelity,  they  take  on  at  once  a  deeper  meaning  and  a 
higher  value.  When  the  master  of  the  house  found  his 
faithful  servants  watching  late  into  the  night,  he  did  a 
most  extraordinary  thing  to  show  his  appreciation.  "  Re 
girded  himself  and  made  them  sit  down  to  meat  and  came 
forth  and  served  them."  Inasmuch  as  they  had  shown 
their  fidelity  in  serving  him,  he  will  serve  them  by  minis- 
tering in  gracious  fashion  to  their  pleasure. 

The  drudgery  of  service  is  commonplace,  but  the  doing 
of  one's  best  is  not  commonplace.  Business  men  who  are 
large  employers  of  labor  tell  mie  that  it  is  by  no  means 
easy  to  get  men  who  will  do  what  they  can  do  and  do  it 
well  and  keep  right  along  doing  it  just  as  the  clock  keeps 
on  ticking  and  striking  and  telling  the  hours.  The  man 
who  is  found  doing  his  duty  whether  the  eye  of  inspec- 
tion falls  upon  him  in  the  second  watch  or  the  third  watch 
or  in  the  gray  dawn  is  a  man  to  be  sought  out  and  hon- 
ored. "  Blessed  are  those  servants."  They  are  not  serv- 
ing those  "  who  are  their  masters  according  to  the  flesh 
with  eye  service  as  men-pleasers,"  but  "  in  singleness  of 
heart  they  are  serving  God." 

When  Colonel  Waring  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
street  cleaning  departm.ent  of  the  city  of  New  York  he 
found  the  streets  and  alleys  dirty,  the  sanitary  conditions 
bad  and  the  death  rate  high.     Now  the  work  of  the  scaven- 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         357 

ger  is  a  lowly  form  of  service.  He  goes  about  in  humble 
fashion  with  his  shovel  and  broom,  or  carries  out  the  ashes 
and  garbage  from  the  back  door,  to  be  hauled  away  to  the 
dump.  The  first  thing  Colonel  Waring  did  was  to  dignify 
that  service  by  dressing  up  all  the  street  cleaners  in  white 
uniforms.  He  then  marched  them  up  Fifth  Avenue  in  a 
great  parade,  each  man  carrying  his  shovel  and  broom,  as 
soldiers  carry  their  guns  when  they  march  through  our 
streets  on  their  way  to  the  front.  He  then  lined  them  up 
and  told  them  that  they  were  "  the  conservators  of  the 
city's  health  ";  that  they  were  there  "  to  protect  the  great 
city  of  New  York  from  the  inroads  of  disease  as  it  is  bred 
in  filthy  streets." 

When  those  Irishmen  and  Italians  heard  themselves 
talked  to  like  that,  every  man  of  them  added  two  cubits 
to  his  stature.  He  took  up  his  shovel  and  broom  as  the 
insignia  of  an  honorable  service.  He  had  his  calling  inter- 
preted to  him  by  the  master  he  served  and  he  went  forth 
to  fight  his  good  fight  against  the  attacks  of  disease.  And 
when  we  read  that  under  Colonel  Waring  the  death  rate 
went  down  from  twenty-six  to  nineteen,  and  when  we  think 
of  the  suffering  and  sorrow  thus  averted  from  countless 
homes,  we  know  that  he  was  right.  The  faithful  servants 
of  the  city  were  found  with  their  loins  girded  and  their 
lamps  burning,  doing  their  duty  in  the  watch  assigned  them 
with  a  high  sense  of  its  far-reaching  significance. 

The  other  illustration  Jesus  used  to  show  the  need  of 
watchfulness  was  the  unexpected  coming  of  the  thief.  If 
the  good  man  of  the  house  had  known  what  hour  the  thief 
would  come,  he  would  have  watched  and  not  have  allowed 
his  house  to  be  broken  into.  Here  is  the  same  demand 
that  those  protectors  of  the  common  interest  shall  be  alert, 
on  their  feet,  girded  for  action,  ready  to  repel  attack! 

The  moral  life  of  the  individual  and  of  the  race  needs 


358  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

to  be  on  its  guard  against  those  insidious  enemies  whose 
approach  is  stealthy,  unexpected  and  malevolent  like  the 
approach  of  the  thief.  "Be  ye  therefore  ready  also." 
Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  character.  The  man  of 
fine  purpose  if  he  is  not  to  be  deflected  from  his  course, 
or  cast  down  from  his  high  level  of  thought  and  feeling, 
or  baffled  in  his  effort  to  accomplish  good  by  some  unex- 
pected turn  of  events,  must  likewise  be  alert,  on  his  feet, 
girded  for  action,  with  his  zeal  burning. 

How  many  enemies  are  abroad,  creeping  along  the  dark 
side  of  the  street,  intent  upon  robbing  the  innocent  of  their 
money,  of  their  good  names,  of  their  faith  or  of  their  char- 
acter. Wolves  do  not  always  come  in  wolves'  clothing,  with 
teeth  and  claws  and  shaggy  hair  —  they  come  in  sheepskin 
and  fine  wool  or  they  may  come  arrayed  like  the  pretending 
grandmother  of  Red  Riding  Hood.  Their  appearance  is 
deceptive.  Therefore  the  Master  says,"  Watch."  Faith  in 
Christ  is  an  invaluable  possession  and  there  are  thieves 
abroad  to  steal  it.  "  Take  heed  then  what  ye  hear." 
Many  a  Christian  had  he  known  in  what  companion  or 
book  or  play  the  thief  would  come,  "  would  have  watched 
and  would  not  have  suffered  his  house  to  be  broken  up." 

Here  Peter,  always  the  spokesman  for  the  Twelve,  breaks 
in:  "Lord,  speakest  thou  this  parable  unto  us,  or  even 
unto  all?  "  In  the  parallel  passage  in  Matthew  we  find 
a  direct  reply  to  Peter's  question,  "  What  I  say  unto  you  I 
say  unto  all.  Watch."  In  the  interests  of  character  (both 
his  and  ouf  most  valued  possession)  Jesus  insists  upon 
that  loyal  vigilance  necessary  for  its  safeguarding. 

The  high  quality  of  watchful  fidelity  here  demanded  is 
only  possible  to  the  spirit  of  moral  faith.  Here  is  a  lonely 
picket  out  at  the  edge  of  the  lines!  The  night  is  cold  and 
stormy  as  he  paces  to  and  fro  in  the  dark  and  sleet,  weary 
and  anxious.     He  does  not  know  the  present  location  of 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         359 

the  enemy's  forces.  He  does  not  know  what  marches  are 
projected  for  the  next  day.  He  has  been  suffering  hard- 
ship and  exposure  for  weeks  with  no  adequate  understanding 
of  the  general  plan  of  the  campaign. 

But  because  he  is  enlisted  in  the  army  of  a  competent 
and  beloved  General  he  feels  all  the  while  that  there  is 
one  at  Headquarters  who  does  know  the  location  of  the 
hostile  forces,  whose  wise  plan  of  campaign  is  slowly  being 
worked  out.  He  is  thereby  nerved  and  steadied  for  all  his 
hard  tasks  by  his  faith  that  he  is  contributing  to  the  vic- 
tory which  lies  ahead. 

"  Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  him."  Without 
faith  our  courage  falters  in  the  face  of  danger.  Without 
faith  the  will  goes  lame  in  the  presence  of  persistent  de- 
mand for  patient  effort.  Without  faith  we  are  puzzled 
even  unto  despair.  But  when  we  know  that  there  is  One 
at  Headquarters  under  whom  we  are  enlisted,  our  hearts 
are  replenished  with  those  impulses  which  issue  in  fidelity 
of  action. 

The  fate  of  those  unfaithful  servants,  who  because  of 
the  delay  in  the  coming  of  their  master  began  to  beat  their 
fellows  and  to  be  drunken,  is  here  drawn  in  fearful  terms. 
The  lord  of  those  servants  came  at  an  hour  when  they 
were  not  looking  for  his  return  and  surprised  them  in  their 
evil  deeds.  He  "  cut  them  asunder  "  and  "  appointed  them 
their  portion  "  with  the  outcasts. 

Yet  even  here  we  find  the  equitable  principle  of  a  grada- 
tion of  punishment.  The  servant  who  knows  his  lord's 
will  and  does  it  not  is  beaten  with  many  stripes,  while  the 
servant  who  knows  not  the  exact  nature  of  his  duty,  but 
commits  acts  worthy  of  stripes  shall  receive  a  punishment 
less  severe  —  he  shall  be  beaten  with  few  stripes.  The 
system  of  graded  penalties  is  only  fair  —  for  "  to  whom 
much  is  given  of  him  will  much  be  required." 


360  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

It  brings  out  the  duty  of  our  own  nation  and  of  this 
generation  in  bold  relief.  To  us  beyond  any  other  nation 
much  has  been  given.  We  are  rich  in  untouched  resource, 
in  noble  tradition,  in  freedom  of  opportunity,  in  ready 
access  to  those  lines  of  influence  which  if  kept  wholesome 
may  in  Messianic  fashion  bless  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
Knowing  our  duty  and  having  power  to  meet  it  with  com- 
petent action,  we  too  shall  be  beaten  with  many  stripes 
if  we  fail  to  show  ourselves  alert,  on  our  feet,  girded  for 
action,  with  the  lamp  of  holy  influence  alight. 


LX 

MORAL  RECLAMATION 
Luke  15  : 1-10 

It  is  in  the  air.  What  nation  having  wide  areas  of  arid 
land  capable  of  cultivation  by  irrigation  does  not  leave 
Iowa  and  Illinois  to  their  own  prosperity  and  concentrate 
upon  Nevada  and  Arizona  until  they  too  shall  rejoice  in 
harvests?  What  corporation  owning  great  tracts  of  tule 
swamp  along  the  San  Joaquin  and  Sacramento  Rivers  does 
not  leave  the  fertile  acres  of  the  Santa  Clara  Valley  and 
reclaim  those  swamps  until  they  feed  whole  cities  with 
their  yield  of  vegetables?  What  manufacturer  seeing  fifty 
thousand  dollars  going  annually  into  the  ash  heap  and 
learning  that  some  valuable  by-product  could  be  made 
from  it,  does  not  at  once  em.ploy  an  expert  to  solve  the 
problem  and  build  a  reclaiming  plant? 

This  was  the  line  of  argument  followed  by  the  Master. 
"  These  parables  get  their  force  because  they  rest  so 
squarely  and  broadly  upon  the  everyday  feelings  and  ex- 
periences of  ordinary  men."  Here  are  the  courses  of  action 
which  shepherds  with  lost  sheep  in  the  wilderness  and 
housekeepers  with  lost  coins  about  the  house,  and  fathers 
with  runaway  boys  in  some  far  country,  have  been  taking 
ever  since  the  world  began.  And  when  we  take  the  natural 
instincts  of  our  hearts  at  their  best  and  raise  them  to  the 
nth  power  v/e  have  the  temper  and  disposition  of  Him  in 
whose  image  we  are  created. 

The  three  parables  came  as  a  reply  to  a  criticism. 
"  The  publicans  and  sinners  drew  near  to  hear  him  and  the 

361 


362  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

Pharisees  murmured,  saying,  This  man  receive th  sinners 
and  eateth  with  them."  The  last  named  fact  was  the 
crowning  touch  of  moral  and  social  insubordination  on  the 
part  of  this  Galilean  —  it  was  like  the  open  defiance  of 
race  prejudice  by  Theodore  Roosevelt  when  he  invited 
Booker  Washington  to  eat  bread  in  the  White  House. 
"  Eateth  with  them  "  —  the  sour-visaged  Pharisees  with 
vinegar  in  their  veins  could  not  stand  for  that! 

How  the  world  changes  —  and  for  the  better!  "  Re- 
ceive th  sinners  and  eateth  with  them  "  —  it  was  said  of 
Jesus  in  scorn  and  with  a  sneer!  It  was  said  of  William 
Booth  of  the  Salvation  Army,  and  it  was  the  glory  of  his 
life.  The  Nineteenth  Century  saw  William  Booth  re- 
ceived at  Court  and  honored  with  a  degree  from  Oxford 
University  because  he  received  sinners.  The  first  century 
saw  the  Son  of  Man  scorned,  spat  upon  and  crucified  for 
doing  the  same  thing.  The  world  moves  —  there  is  sunrise 
everywhere  and  the  promise  of  a  brighter  day. 

The  Master  had  to  defend  himself  at  this  point  re- 
peatedly by  reminding  them  who  he  was.  "  I  am  a  physi- 
cian," he  would  say,  "  and  I  go  not  to  those  who  are 
'whole,'  but  to  those  who  are  sick  —  they  have  need  of 
me."  "  I  am  the  Good  Shepherd  —  I  leave  the  ninety  and 
nine  already  secure  in  the  fold  to  bring  in  the  one  that  is 
lost.  I  am  a  preacher  of  salvation  —  I  am  sent  not  to  the 
'  righteous '  who  need  no  repentance,  but  to  sinners  in 
sore  want  of  such  a  message." 

What  keen  thrusts  at  the  moral  complacency  of  those 
self-satisfied  prigs!  What  delicious  irony!  "Whole"  — 
and  there  they  were  sick  unto  death  in  the  ugly  deformity 
of  their  spiritual  maladies!  "  Righteous  "  —  Heaven  save 
the  mark!  They  were  perpetrating  a  horrible  caricature 
upon  the  very  idea  of  righteousness!  "  Need  no  repen- 
tance "  —  and  there  they  were  in  danger  of  being  damned 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         363 

because  of  their  stiffnecked  unwillingness  to  make  an 
about  face  in  open  penitence.  His  word  to  thick-skinned 
conceit  was  with  power. 

The  three  parables  have  in  common  one  great  central 
truth,  the  impulse  to  recover  any  valued  object  which  is 
imperilled  by  being  lost.  But  they  are  not  recorded  in  the 
order  best  suited  to  bring  out  the  climax.  "  The  logical 
order  should  be,  the  lost  coin,  the  lost  sheep,  the  lost  son; 
the  unconscious  coin,  the  conscious  sheep,  the  guilty  and 
repentant  son." 

Here  in  this  passage  we  have  those  parables  which  show 
how  the  pastoral  instinct  of  the  man  and  the  domestic 
instinct  of  the  woman  are  at  one  in  moving  actively  for  the 
recovery  of  that  which  is  lost.  Anything  is  lost  which  is 
out  of  its  right  place  and  therefore  failing  to  fulfill  the 
purpose  for  which  it  exists.  The  sheep  is  not  accomplish- 
ing the  purpose  of  sheephood  when  it  is  away  on  the 
mountains,  torn  by  the  thicket,  exhausted  by  its  frantic 
search  for  its  fellows,  famished  for  lack  of  proper  pas- 
turage, frightened  and  chased  by  hungry  wolves.  It  is 
lost! 

The  coin  is  not  fulfilling  the  purpose  of  its  minting  when 
it  has  rolled  off  into  some  dark  corner  or  has  fallen  through 
some  crack  in  the  floor.  It  is  taken  out  of  circulation. 
Its  fate  has  reduced  the  ability  of  that  housewife  to  minis- 
ter properly  to  the  needs  of  her  family.  It  might  as  well 
be  non-existent  for  any  good  that  it  accomplishes  for  the 
world.     It  is  lost! 

The  man  is  not  fulfilling  the  purpose  of  his  manhood 
when  he  wastes  his  strength  in  coarse  sensual  indulgence  or 
in  those  equally  tragic  modes  of  selfish  living  which  show 
spiritual  indifference  and  spell  moral  defeat.  He  is  robbing 
His  Maker  and  robbing  the  world  of  the  service  he  has 
power   to   render.     He   forms   no   part   of   that   circulating 


364  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

medium  of  devotion  and  aspiration  with  which  the  moral 
traffic  of  the  world  is  carried  ahead!     He  is  lost! 

In  the  face  of  such  a  situation,  the  action  of  the  good 
shepherd  is  prompt.  He  leaves  the  ninety  and  nine  and 
goes  after  the  one  that  is  lost.  The  parable  makes  plain 
the  fact  that  "  a  working  majority,"  the  ability  to  vote 
fifty-one  per  cent,  of  the  capital  stock,  does  not  satisfy 
the  heart  of  the  Master  of  the  Higher  Values.  He  is  not 
aiming  m^erely  for  "  the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number  " 
—  his  redemptive  purpose  is  searching,  personal,  intimate. 
He  moves  straight  for  that  one  life  which  needs  him  most. 

This  first  parable  emxphasizes  more  than  either  of  the 
others  the  fact  that  though  the  loss  in  comparison  to  what 
is  retained  be  small,  still  the  owner  of  those  values  fares 
forth  at  once  intent  upon  its  recovery.  The  mother  of 
twelve  children  misses  one  face  from  the  table  or  one  tiny 
form  from  her  protecting  arms  as  promptly  and  as  sadly 
as  the  mother  of  two  would  miss  the  half  of  her  brood. 
And  the  scale  of  the  Eternal  Love  is  infinite  so  that  in  a 
multitude  which  no  man  could  number  He  detects  the 
absence  of  a  single  child. 

The  community  of  feeling  between  the  shepherd  and  the 
sheep  underlies  this  saving  impulse.  The  shepherd  has 
lived  with  his  flock  for  years  on  terms  of  intimate  com- 
panionship. His  loving  interest  leaping  "  the  wide  bound- 
ary of  their  diverse  natures  has  come  to  know  how  a  sheep 
feels,"  as  Theodore  T.  Munger  once  said.  "  When  it  is 
lost,  his  shepherd  heart  goes  after  it  in  its  strange  loneli- 
ness, pities  its  fear  as  it  hears  the  howl  of  the  wolf,  shares 
its  weariness  as  it  wanders  aimless,  suffers  in  its  degrada- 
tion as  it  grows  hungry  and  lean,  wild  and  unlike  itself  in 
its  danger-haunted  life."  In  like  manner,  "  it  is  Christ's 
absolute  consciousness  of  lost  humanity  that  makes  him  its 
seeking  Saviour." 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         365 

And  when  the  shepherd  has  found  the  unhappy  object 
of  his  search  "  he  lays  it  on  his  shoulders."  This  was  an 
act  unusual.  The  sheep  were  commonly  led  and  guided  by 
the  shepherd,  but  each  one  was  expected  to  follow  upon 
its  own  four  feet.  Here,  however,  compassion  overflows 
its  accustomed  channels,  bearing  upon  its  strength  the 
frightened,  wearied,  helpless  object  of  its  care.  What  a 
picture  of  the  seeking,  saving,  sacrificial  love  of  that  Great 
Shepherd  of  the  sheep! 

The  greater  the  nature  the  more  immediate  the  response 
to  those  forces  which  are  universal.  The  ocean  yields 
to  the  power  of  gravitation  as  the  moon  changes  her  posi- 
tion, drawing  along  with  her  the  mighty  tides  in  a  manner 
not  observable  in  the  rivers  and  lakes.  The  lesser  bodies 
of  water  feel  the  same  power,  but  do  not  make  the  same 
visible  response.  The  greater  the  nature  the  more  apparent 
the  response  made  to  that  universal  impulse  to  recover  that 
which  is  lost.  The  love  of  God  for  needy  humanity  makes 
that  supreme  response  to  be  found  in  the  gift  of  his  Son 
to  be  our  Saviour. 

When  the  sheep  and  the  coin  were  found,  both  the  shep- 
herd and  the  housewife  called  in  friends  and  neighbors 
to  share  in  the  rejoicing.  "  Likewise  joy  shall  be  in  heaven 
among  the  angels  of  God  over  one  sinner  that  repent- 
eth."  The  lines  of  sympathy  run  perpendicularly  as  well  as 
horizontally.  The  social  gladness  of  a  group  of  neighbors 
over  the  recovery  of  a  lost  bit  of  value  has  its  glorious 
counterpart  in  that  social  gladness  which  extends  into  the 
Unseen  World  over  the  moral  recovery  of  a  single  life. 

The  Son  of  Man,  knowing  what  was  in  man  and  needing 
not  that  any  should  tell  him,  so  taught  that  he  constantly 
had  the  fundamental  facts  of  human  nature  on  his  side. 
When  he  spoke  of  prayer,  it  was,  "  What  man  of  you  if 
his  son  asks  bread,  gives  him  a  stone?"     When  he  spoke  of 


366  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

the  work  of  salvation  it  was,  "  What  shepherd  having  lost 
a  sheep  does  not  go  after  that  which  is  lost  until  he  find 
it?"  He  thus  steadily  proclaimed  the  great  truth  that  when 
any  man  is  faced  right  he  has  all  the  moral  facts  and  forces 
of  the  universe  with  him  for  his  re-enforcement.  And 
when  he  is  faced  wrong  he  has  all  the  moral  energy  of  the 
universe  against  him. 

Here  on  countless  fields  this  work  of  moral  reclamation 
advances.  Every  year  less  sage-brush  and  cactus,  more 
wheat  and  alfalfa.  Every  year  fewer  horned  toads  and 
gila  monsters,  more  sheep  and  cows!  Every  year  more 
men  and  women  who  bring  peace  and  good  will  and  fewer 
who  breathe  the  foul  spirit  of  malice,  until  at  last  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  and  the  goodness  of  the  race  shall  cover 
the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea! 


LXI 

THE  PARABLE  OF  THE  FATHER 
Luke  15  :  11-32 

You  sometimes  hear  the  remark  made  by  men  who  know 
not  what  they  say,  "We  do  not  want  theology  —  give  us 
the  simple  gospel  of  Christ."  But  the  gospel  of  Christ  is 
filled  to  the  brim  with  theology.  Jesus  was  not  a  censor  of 
morals  or  a  dealer  in  rules  or  a  ready  exponent  of  graceful 
sentiment  —  he  was  steadily  proclaiming  truths  which  are 
deep  and  broad  and  high.  He  would  have  scant  sympathy 
with  those  shallow  minds  which  show  themselves  ever 
ready  to  pour  contempt  upon  theology. 

The  gospel  is  made  up  not  of  a  few  moral  suggestions 
with  friendly  bits  of  ethical  appeal  attached  —  it  roots 
back  into  a  profound  philosophy  of  man  as  an  individual, 
of  human  society,  of  the  universe,  of  God.  It  can  only  be 
preached  in  its  full  strength  and  helpfulness  by  men  who 
are  theologians.  In  this  way  alone  can  the  deeper  sources 
of  motive,  of  stimulus  and  of  moral  renewal  be  uncovered 
and  made  accessible. 

Here  is  this  parable  of  the  Father  (sometimes  called 
''  the  parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  "  as  taking  its  name  from 
the  least  worthy  of  the  figures  which  move  across  its 
pages)!  The  story  is  told  mainly  in  monosyllables.  The 
literary  style  is  limpid  as  a  mountain  brook,  but  the  depths 
of  meaning  suggested  are  fathomless.  Here  in  this  one 
parable  there  is  theology  enough  for  a  learned  treatise  on 
the  ways  of  God  with  man  extending  into  six  royal  octavo 
volumes!     It  contains  but  five  hundred  and  ten  words,  and 

367 


368  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

can  be  read  entire  in  three  or  four  minutes,  yet  it  fairly 
boxes  the  compass  of  fundamental  theological  belief. 

Here  is  the  divine  Fatherhood!  The  man  had  two  sons 
and  his  attitude  from  first  to  last  is  parental. 

Here  is  our  filial  standing  in  the  family  of  God!  The 
sinful  son  was  still  a  son,  even  as  the  lost  sheep  was  none 
the  less  a  sheep  and  never  a  goat  or  a  wolf.  When  the 
young  man  came  back  ragged  and  guilty,  footsore  and  sin- 
stained,  he  was  still  in  the  eyes  of  the  father,  "  My  son." 

Here  is  our  dependence  upon  God  and  the  unescapable 
responsibility  which  springs  from  it!  The  son  must  say  to 
the  Father,  "  Give  me,"  to  secure  the  very  means  employed 
in  doing  wrong. 

What  is  sin?  It  is  the  act  of  a  son  who  would  make  his 
life  separate  and  selfish,  taking  his  portion  of  goods  away 
from  the  eye  of  the  Father.  He  refuses  any  higher  direc- 
tion, or  any  diviner  form  of  fellowship,  to  the  end  that 
being  thus  freed  from  all  sense  of  obligation  he  may  dwell  in 
that  "  far  country." 

What  is  retribution?  It  is  the  famine,  the  sense  of 
wasted  substance,  the  gnawing  of  unrelieved  hunger,  the 
heartless  refusal  of  one's  surroundings  to  give  the  wrong- 
doer what  is  so  sorely  needed.  This  penalty  comes  inevita- 
bly when  the  life  has  been  spending  itself  in  disobedience. 

Here  is  conviction  of  sin!  The  young  man  having  gone 
through  all  he  had,  and  feeling  the  bite  of  retribution, 
knew  that  he  alone  was  to  blame.  He  did  not  say,  "  Had 
my  father  been  less  indulgent  with  me,"  or,  "I  was  un- 
fortunate in  some  of  my  associates."  He  said  in  frank 
recognition  of  his  own  blameworthiness,  "  I  have  sinned." 
His  outward  and  inward  destitution  when  he  was  hungry 
enough  to  eat  husks  and  lonely  enough  to  make  friends 
with  the  hogs  had  come  upon  him  by  his  own  acts. 

Here    is    the    first    intimation    of    a    coming    salvation  — 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         369 

"He  came  to  himself."  Salvation  is  just  that  —  it  is 
self- recovery,  self-realization.  It  was  not  his  real  self  that 
had  been  wasting  money  and  time,  manhood  and  honor, 
with  the  harlots  —  it  was  a  false,  unreal  self,  a  usurper  to 
be  cast  out  by  his  true  self. 

Here  is  faith,  saving  faith!  He  remembered  that  he  had 
a  father  and  that  in  that  father's  house  there  was  bread 
enough  and  to  spare.  He  pictured  to  himself,  by  the  aid 
of  his  moral  imagination,  a  situation  far  distant.  He  did 
it  so  effectively  that  it  became  operative  in  terms  of  action. 
He  had  faith  to  believe  that  the  Father  would  still  receive 
him,  at  least  on  the  footing  of  a  hired  servant,  in  that 
house  where  there  was  bread  for  the  hunger  he  felt.  And 
that  faith  brought  him  to  his  feet  —  he  was  saved  by  his 
faith. 

Here  is  repentance!  His  hunger,  his  feeling  of  regret, 
his  tearful  remorse  over  the  loss  suffered  by  his  own  wrong- 
doing did  not  constitute  repentance.  Repentance  is  not 
made  up  of  a  series  of  weak  and  wet  sobs.  These  may 
spring  merely  from  a  sense  of  discomfort  or  from  the  dis- 
grace one  suffers  in  being  found  out.  Repentance  involves 
definite  heroic  action  —  it  means  an  about  face  morally. 
"He  arose  and  came  to  his  father"  —  getting  out  of  the 
far  country,  away  from  the  debasing  associations,  back 
where  he  belonged.     That  was  indeed  repentance. 

Here  is  the  great  sublime  fact  of  forgiveness!  "  His 
father  saw  him  and  had  compassion  and  ran  and  fell  on 
his  neck  and  kissed  him  "  —  and  all  this  before  the  son  had 
time  to  utter  his  carefully  framed  confession.  But  it  was 
enough  —  his  presence,  his  look,  his  need,  all  indicated  that 
he  was  in  a  mood  to  be  saved. 

Here  is  the  open  confession  of  sin  demanded  for  "  cleans- 
ing the  stuffed  bosom  of  that  perilous  stuff  which  weighs 
upon  the  heart."     The  son  had  no  rest  until  he  stood  out 


370  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

in  the  open  laying  the  blame  nowhere  save  upon  his  own 
perverted  will.  "  I  have  sinned  against  heaven  and  in  thy 
sight  and  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  thy  son." 

Here  is  consecration!  "  Make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired 
servants."  In  his  humble  penitence  he  does  not  jauntily 
offer  himself  as  a  candidate  for  the  honors  and  pleasures  of 
sonship  in  that  home  of  peace  and  plenty  —  he  will  grate- 
fully welcome  the  humblest  form  of  opportunity  for  invest- 
ing his  abilities  in  the  service  of  those  interests  which  are 
his  father's. 

Here  is  the  doctrine  of  the  witness  of  the  Spirit!  The 
son  was  saved  and  "  he  was  made  to  know  it,"  as  John 
Wesley  would  have  said.  His  "heart  was  strangely  warmed," 
and  there  came  by  the  direct  action  of  that  forgiving  love 
an  objective  certification  to  his  entrance  into  newness  of 
life.  "  Bring  the  best  robe  and  put  it  on  him!  Put  a  ring 
on  his  hand  and  shoes  on  his  feet!  "  Here  were  the  un- 
mistakable tokens  of  his  acceptance!  "  Bring  the  fatted 
calf  and  kill  it.  Let  us  eat  and  make  merry  for  this  my 
son  was  dead  and  is  alive  again."  Here  was  the  joy  of 
salvation  not  accepted  by  a  coldly  reasoned  intellectual 
process  but  experienced! 

Here  was  heaven  begun  on  earth!  "  They  began  to  be 
merry."  He  was  with  his  father.  He  was  sharing  again 
in  the  father's  purposes  and  in  his  prospects.  He  was 
eating  bread  in  his  father's  house  and  finding  joy  in  a  sense 
of  fellowship  restored. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  in  this  parable  there  is  no 
suggestion  of  the  great  doctrine  of  atonement.  I  do  not 
so  read  it.  The  father  saw  the  returning  prodigal  "  while 
he  was  yet  a  great  way  off."  How  did  he  come  to  see 
him  so  soon?  He  had  been  out  looking  for  him.  During 
those  fateful  years  his  eyes  had  ranged  along  the  winding 
road  which  led  away  toward  the  far  country  until  it  dis- 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         371 

appeared  over  the  distant  hills,  not  once  but  a  thousand 
times.  He  was  accustomed  to  stand  at  the  lower  gate 
looking,  yearning,  hoping,  praying,  for  the  return  of  his 
boy  —  this  was  the  habit  of  his  hungry  heart!  He  was 
therefore  in  the  place  where  he  could  catch  the  first  glimpse 
of  his  return,  seeing  him  "  while  he  was  yet  a  great  way 
off." 

What  do  you  call  this  disposition  in  the  heart  of  the 
Eternal  Father  which  goes  down  to  the  lower  gate  and 
looks  and  longs,  suffers  and  yearns  over  the  sinful  son  of 
his  love?  What  do  you  call  that  eternal  heartache  and 
heartbreak  which  follows  the  sinful  course  of  every  son 
who  sets  himself  in  the  attitude  of  sinful  defiance?  "  God 
commended  his  love  toward  us  in  that  while  we  were  yet 
sinners  Christ  died  for  us."  "  God  was  in  Christ  reconcil- 
ing the  world  unto  Himself  not  imputing  their  trespasses 
unto  them."  Here  in  this  disposition,  symbolized  by  "the 
Lamb  slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  "  as  an  eternal 
disposition,  I  find  the  infinite  compassion  which  found  ex- 
pression in  that  supreme  effort  for  moral  reconciliation 
witnessed  on  the  Cross  of  Christ. 

We  have  gone  through  the  entire  list  of  those  articles 
of  theological  belief  which  are  esteemed  fundamental  in 
the  words  and  terms  of  this  loveliest  of  the  parables. 
And  all  these  fundamental  truths  have  answered  to  their 
names  in  this  roll-call  of  faith. 

"To  us  there  is  but  one  God,  the  Father,  of  whom  are 
all  things  and  we  by  him;  and  one  Lord,  Jesus  Christ,  by 
whom  are  all  things  and  we  by  him."  And  there  is  but 
one  Spirit,  in  which  we  may  enter  and  through  which  we 
may  continue  in  the  kingdom  of  God  and  that  is  the  filial 
spirit  whereby  we  become  as  little  children  in  our  Father's 
love  to  go  no  more  out.  We  may  well  construe  our 
entire  system  of  theological  belief  in  fundamental  harmony 


372  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

with  these  cardinal  positions  made  plain  to  us  by  the  Son 
of  God  in  "  The  Pearl  of  the  Parables." 

The  exercise  of  saving  faith  does  not  create  a  relation 

—  it  restores  a  relation  which  has  been  allowed  to  lapse 
by  wrongdoing.  "  How  natural  it  all  is,"  Dr.  Peabody 
says!  "  Here  is  an  infinite  law  of  love  at  the  heart  of  the 
universe  —  that  is  the  center  of  theology!  Here  is  a  world 
that  permits  moral  alienation  through  the  free  will  of  man 

—  that  is  the  problem  of  philosophy!     He  came  to  himself 

—  that  is  the  heart  of  ethics!  I  will  go  to  my  Father  — 
that  is  the  soul  of  religion." 


LXII 
COMMON  SENSE  IN  RELIGION 
Luke  16  : 1-13 

The  message  in  this  parable  of  The  Unjust  Steward  has 
been  a  hard  saying  to  many.  It  seemed  to  put  a  premium 
on  dishonesty,  and  they  could  not  receive  it.  It  seemed  to 
hold  up  a  bad  man  for  Christian  imitation. 

The  dry,  literal  treatment  of  it  does  land  us  in  moral 
inconsistency.  The  attempt  to  find  some  exact  counter- 
part for  each  item  results  in  confusion  worse  confounded. 
The  best  of  illustrations  are  not  meant  to  go  on  all  fours 
—  their  method  of  locomotion  is  not  that  of  the  quadruped 
and  four-footed  minds  are  likely  to  make  a  mess  of  them. 
In  every  such  passage  we  are  to  move  straight  for  the 
central,  vital  point. 

The  agent  of  a  rich  man  was  about  to  be  discharged. 
"  Render  an  account  of  thy  stewardship  for  thou  canst  be 
no  longer  steward."  The  agent  had  too  little  physical 
strength  to  dig  and  too  much  pride  to  beg  —  so  the  problem 
of  bread  and  butter  became  serious. 

He  decided  to  use  the  brief  term  of  stewardship  yet  re- 
maining to  make  for  himself  friends  who  in  gratitude  for 
favors  done  to  them  would  receive  and  aid  him  when  he 
lost  his  position.  He  called  in  the  debtors  of  his  chief 
one  after  another,  and  "  wrote  off  "  a  certain  percentage 
of  each  man's  indebtedness,  giving  him  a  receipt  in  full. 

His   principal   "  commended   the   unjust  steward   because' 
he   had   done"  —  not   honorably   nor   faithfully   nor  grate- 
fully  but  —  "wisely."     He    had    acted    shrewdly,    cleverly,! 

373 


374  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

in  his  own  interest,  by  using  present  advantages,  brief 
though  his  command  of  them  might  be,  to  make  provisions 
for  a  joyous  future. 

His  shrewd  use  of  means  to  gain  his  end  is  approved  — 
"  His  lord  commended  him  because  he  had  done  wisely." 
His  dishonesty  stands  condemned  —  he  is  censured  as 
an  "  unrighteous  steward."  His  practical  wisdom  in  deal- 
ing with  those  debtors  who  owed  v/heat  and  oil  to  his 
master  is  commended  to  those  men  who  have  great  need 
of  prudence  and  judgment  in  dealing  with  the  eternal 
values. 

The  central  point  in  the  parable  is  that  the  Master 
urges  upon  the  pious  people  of  the  world  the  importance  of 
replacing  futile  and  sentimental  methods  by  those  methods 
which  are  indicated  by  the  exercise  of  wise  judgment. 

Why  should  the  pious  ever  show  themselves  stupid? 
Why  should  preaching  ever  be  prosy  and  dull?  Why 
should  not  men  carry  the  same  good  sense  and  availing 
perseverance  into  the  w^ork  of  praying  that  they  show  in  the 
work  of  manufacturing? 

We  are  painfully  aware  of  the  sore  need  of  such  instruc- 
tion. Vice  is  eagerly  and  fearfully  awake  where  virtue  is 
often  asleep  —  it  may  be  "  the  sleep  of  the  just,"  but  it  is 
a  disgraceful  slumber  when  the  call  is  for  alert  action. 
The  saloon  men  are  long-headed,  courageous,  persistent 
where  the  temperance  people  frequently  show  themselves 
ill-advised,  timid,  intermittent  in  their  efforts.  If  the 
children  of  light  would  gain  their  ends,  let  them  show 
themselves  wiser  as  well  as  nobler  than  the  children  of 
darkness.  If  the  children  of  light  were  to  show  themselves 
for  one  full  round  year  as  shrewd  and  as  resolute  as  the 
agents  of  evil,  we  should  see  the  kingdom  of  God  comxing 
with  power  and  great  glory  on  many  a  field  where  it  now 
lags. 


THE   PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         375 

"  How  often  the  man  of  affairs  is  tempted  to  feel  a  cer- 
tain contempt  for  the  Church  of  Christ  when  he  turns  from 
the  intensely  real  issues  of  his  weekday  world  to  the  ab- 
stractness  and  unreality  of  religious  questions!  How  ficti- 
tious, how  unbusinesslike,  how  preposterous  is  this  interne- 
cine sectarianism  and  impotent  sentimentalism  where  there 
might  be  the  triumphant  march  of  one  army  under  one 
flag!  Let  us  learn  the  lesson  which  even  the  grasping,  un- 
scrupulous world  has  to  teach  —  the  lesson  of  an  absorbed 
and  disciplined  mind  giving  its  entire  sagacity  to  the  chief 
business  of  life." 

Here  we  find  what  a  rich  man  said  to  his  agent  in  com- 
mendation of  his  clever  prudence!  "  And  /  say  unto  you,'' 
Jesus  added,  carrying  his  plea  for  better  methods  to  the 
higher  levels  of  moral  effort.  "  In  your  own  interest  make 
friends  by  the  use  you  make  of  your  money."  Make 
such  friends  as  will  be  able  when  you  fail  to  receive  you 
into  eternal  habitations.  Let  your  accounts  of  accumula- 
tion and  of  benevolence  show,  when  you  close  up  your 
earthly  stewardship,  that  you  are  indeed  "  rich  toward 
God."  The  inculcation  of  this  prudent,  far-seeing  wisdom 
which  disdains  the  mere  satisfaction  of  appetite  in  the 
passing  moment  and  employs  its  means  for  insuring  a 
stable  and  enjoyable  future,  stands  out  as  the  one  great 
lesson  of  the  parable. 

It  may  be  objected  that  the  motive  of  mere  prudence  is 
not  the  highest  form  of  motive.  The  point  is  well  taken. 
The  Master  did  not  always  bring  out  the  heaviest  guns  in 
his  moral  armament  —  he  gratefully  used  the  small  fire  of 
less  weighty  considerations. 

We  have  the  moral  deficiencies  of  this  line  of  appeal  set 
before  us  in  all  its  nakedness  in  what  is  called,  "  Pascal's 
Wager."  "  You  must  either  believe  or  not  believe,  that  God 
is  —  which  will  you  do?     Your  human  reason  cannot  say. 


376  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

A  game  Is  going  on  between  you  and  the  nature  of  things 
which  at  the  day  of  judgment  will  bring  out  either  heads  or 
tails.  Weigh  what  your  gains  and  losses  would  be  if  you 
should  stake  all  you  have  on  God's  existence!  If  you  win 
in  such  a  case,  you  gain  eternal  beatitude.  If  you  lose,  you 
lose  nothing  at  all.  If  there  were  an  infinity  of  chances  in 
this  wager  and  only  one  for  God,  still  you  ought  to  stake 
your  all  on  God.  Though  you  risk  a  finite  loss  by  this 
procedure,  any  finite  loss  is  reasonable,  if  there  is  but  the 
possibility  of  infinite  gain." 

This  is  not  putting  it  on  a  very  high  plane  —  it  is  on  a 
very  low  plane.  But  the  man  who  would  go  upstairs  must 
step  on  the  lowest  step  as  well  as  upon  the  highest.  The 
Master,  therefore,  became  all  things  to  all  men  in  his 
varying  methods  of  spiritual  appeal  that  by  all  means  he 
might  save  some. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  generosity  makes  friends. 
The  unjust  steward  understood  that  principle  and  acted 
upon  it  for  his  own  advantage.  Generosity  makes  friends 
here  and  hereafter.  "  It  is  more  blessed,"  for  the  life  that 
now  is  and  also  for  the  life  which  is  to  come,  "  to  give 
than  to  receive."  Therefore  let  the  whole  administration 
of  your  means  be  like  the  well-considered  work  of  a  man 
building  for  himself  an  eternal  habitation  and  filling  it  with 
grateful  friends  to  give  him  welcome  "  when  he  fails." 

Having  gotten  out  the  main  point  in  the  parable  clear 
and  strong  the  Master  embodies  his  teaching  in  certain 
definite  principles.  "  He  that  is  faithful  in  that  which  is 
least  is  faithful  also  in  much."  One  can  judge  of  a  man's 
character  and  methods  touching  those  transcendent,  endur- 
ing values  by  the  measure  of  wisdom  and  conscience  he 
shows  in  the  use  of  his  money.  Here  is  the  epitaph  on 
the  tomb  of  a  French  layman  who  had  counted  himself 
the  Lord's  steward : 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         377 

"  He  exported  his  fortune  into  heaven  by  his  charities. 
He  has  gone  thither  to  enjoy  it." 

He  was  manifestly  a  man  wise  as  well  as  faithful  in  his 
generation  to  merit  such  an  epitaph, 

"  No  servant"  —  slave  was  the  word  Jesus  used,  to  indi- 
cate one  who  was  completely  at  the  disposal  of  another's 
v/ill  —  "  can  serve  two  masters.  Ye  cannot  serve  God  and 
Mammon."  It  is  impossible  to  be  absolutely  at  the  dis- 
posal of  God  and  absolutely  at  the  beck  and  call  of  ma- 
terial gain  without  getting  things  mixed.  But  it  is  possible 
and  in  the  highest  degree  desirable  that  every  man  of 
affairs  should  serve  God  with  his  money. 

You  can  be  the  slave  of  money  if  you  will  —  and  with 
such  a  master  it  will  be  a  dog's  life  that  you  will  lead. 
It  will  be  a  sad  death  that  you  will  die.  You  can  be 
afraid  of  money  and  count  it  an  enemy  to  be  feared  and 
shunned  if  you  will.  The  ascetics  run  away  from  money 
by  their  wild  vows  of  voluntary  poverty,  leaving  the  rest  of 
us  to  fight  the  battle  without  that  measure  of  moral 
strength  which  they  could  have  supplied.  The  wise  man 
makes  money,  not  his  master  nor  his  enemy,  but  his  friend; 
and  he  uses  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  countless  other 
men  his  friends  by  the  generous  service  he  has  rendered 
with  his  means. 

The  teachings  of  Jesus  show  a  healthy  tone  regarding 
this  matter  of  money  when  we  come  to  group,  relate  and 
rightly  interpret  them.  He  knew  what  was  in  life  and 
needed  not  that  any  should  tell  him.  He  showed  none  of 
the  morbid,  feverish,  panic-stricken  attitude  v/hich^the 
cloistered  ascetics  have  shown  in  their  scorn  of  wealth. 

The  career  of  an  honest  man  who  goes  forth  to  develop 
the  resources  of  some  new  region  or  to  increase  the  scope  of 
some  industrial  enterprise  by  making  it  still  more  a  social 
utility,  and  in  so  doing  accumulates  for  himself  a  fortune, 


378  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

makes  its  appeal  to  us  all.  The  people  who  inherit  all 
their  money  do  not  necessarily  amount  to  anything  — all 
they  had  to  do  was  to  wait  for  somebody  to  die.  The  men 
who  make  their  money  gambling  either  at  a  green  table  or 
on  the  stock  exchange  do  not  interest  us  —  to  become  rich 
they  made  other  people  poor.  But  the  man  who  stands 
up  with  nothing  but  his  own  energy  of  body  and  skill  of 
brain  to  accumulate  wealth  by  increasing  production  does 
make  a  strong  appeal. 

Then  if  his  wise  and  generous  use  of  his  gains  makes 
friends  for  him  and  for  the  whole  business  of  producing 
and  administering  wealth  in  harmony  with  high  principles 
and  noble  ideals,  he  has  rendered  this  world  more  habitable. 
He  has  also  aided  in  building  those  eternal  habitations  of 
good  will  which  may  well  be  made  the  legitimate  objects  of 
our  desire. 


XLIII 

THE  RICH  MAN  AND  LAZARUS 

Luke  16  :  19-31 

There  is  a  certain  cast  iron  hardness  about  this  parable. 
You  cannot  bend  it  nor  twist  it  to  suit  your  personal 
preference.  There  is  no  soft  spot  in  it  where  a  selfish 
man  can  lie  down  and  feel  comfortable.  It  stands  up 
grim,  stiff,  ominous. 

The  harsh  aspects  of  truth  have  their  place  in  Scripture 
as  in  human  experience.  We  are  not  fed  mainly  on  ice- 
cream in  this  world.  If  any  life  were  given  nothing  but 
spoon  meat,  never  setting  its  teeth  on  anything  hard,  it 
would  grow  soft  and  pulpy.  The  firm,  solid  truths  which 
need  mastication  through  serious  reflection  before  they  can 
be  assimilated  have  their  place  on  the  Lord's  table. 

This  parable  contains  that  oft  repeated  word  of  Christ 
here  made  flesh  to  the  effect  that  the  unpardonable  sins 
are  not  the  coarse  sins  of  the  flesh  but  the  subtler  sins  of  a 
selfish  inhumanity.  We  note  that  the  fault  of  the  man 
who  found  himself  in  perdition  was  negative.  He  stood 
condemned  in  the  day  of  judgment  —  what  had  he  done? 
Which  one  of  the  Ten  Commandments  had  he  broken? 
No  crime  is  mentioned.  Killing,  stealing,  adultery,  lying, 
drunkenness,  profanity  —  none  of  these  is  laid  at  his  door. 

There  is  no  hint  given  that  he  had  gained  a  penny  of 
his  wealth  wrongfully.  He  gained  a  competence,  ate  well, 
dressed  well,  enjoyed  himself  generally  every  day  in  the 
week.  There  is  nothing  wrong  in  all  this.  He  was  damned 
not  by  the  wicked  things  he  had  done,  but  by  his  thought- 

379 


380  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

less,  selfish  neglect  of  those  humane  deeds  he  ought  to 
have  done. 

His  fault  was  selfish  inhumanity.  There  at  his  own  gate, 
where  he  saw  the  fellow  every  time  he  passed  out  or  in, 
was  a  sick  beggar.  The  man  was  so  helpless  that  he  could 
not  ward  off  the  dogs  which  came  and  licked  his  sore  face. 
The  rich  man  was  not  utterly  heartless  —  he  allowed  the 
beggar  to  have  "  the  crumbs "  that  fell  from  his  table. 
The  fact  that  Lazarus  received  those  morsels  of  kindness 
accounted  for  his  being  there. 

But  poor  men  who  are  sick  need  something  more  than 
"  crumbs "  of  consideration.  This  something  more  the 
rich  man  failed  to  supply  —  the  neglected  man  died  at  the 
gate  of  plenty.  He  died  because  he  had  not  received  that 
friendly  aid  which  the  rich  man  could  have  given  him.  And 
because  the  beggar  represented  the  opportunity  for  social 
service  brought  directly  under  the  rich  man's  eyes  the 
charge  of  selfish  inhumanity  was  clearly  established. 

The  plainest  warnings  Jesus  uttered  had  to  do  with  du- 
ties left  undone.  Study  his  parables  of  judgment  and  you 
find  them  aimed  straight  at  sins  of  omission.  The  foolish 
virgins  did  not  stone  the  v/edding  procession  nor  steal  the 
wedding  presents  nor  utter  gossipy  insinuations  about  the 
character  of  the  bride  —  they  were  shut  out  for  neglecting 
to  have  oil  in  their  lamps.  The  man  of  one  talent  was 
cast  into  outer  darkness  with  v/ailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth, 
not  because  he  had  done  deeds  of  evil  with  his  talent  — 
he  had  done  nothing  with  it.  The  souls  sent  away  into 
everlasting  punishment  had  not  robbed  the  poor,  nor 
poisoned  the  sick,  nor  fleeced  the  strangers  —  they  had 
simply  gone  their  ways  doing  nothing  at  all.  "  Inasmuch 
as  ye  did  it  not  to  the  least  of  these  .  .  .  depart  from  me." 
Thus  the  rich  man  in  the  parable  was  simply  lacking  in 
those  positive  qualities  of  neighborliness  which  are  obliga- 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         381 

tory  under  the  Christian  rule.  His  selfish  indifference  to 
those  claims  which  human  need  lays  upon  us  all  became  his 
damning  sin.  The  way  to  perdition  is  paved  with  moral 
neglect. 

The  somber  truth  is  brought  out  that  by  such  moral 
neglect  men  pass  beyond  recovery.  In  this  parable  there 
was  "  a  great  gulf  fixed."  The  souls  which  would  pass  from 
one  condition  to  another  could  not.  The  appeal  for  relief 
is  represented  as  unavailing.  There  is  such  a  thing  as 
moral  failure  which  passes  beyond  the  hope  of  remedy. 
Character  tends  to  fixity. 

The  language  throughout  is  that  of  Oriental  parable, 
but  the  meaning  is  plain.  The  inability  of  the  man  to 
pass  from  here  to  there  did  not  arise  from  the  contour  of 
the  ground  or  from  any  arbitrary  decree.  The  inability 
was  in  the  man  himself.  The  "  great  gulf  "  represents  the 
constant  tendency  of  character  to  become  fixed.  Moral 
choices  good  or  bad  may  be  repeated  until  the  inner  dispo- 
sition is  firm  set. 

The  helpless  drunkard  can  recall  the  time  w^hen  he  could 
sit  down  beside  his  glass  of  liquor  and  drink  it  if  he  chose 
or  let  it  alone  or  empty  it  on  the  floor.  He  could  drink 
half  of  it  and  throw  the  rest  out  of  the  window.  He  was 
master  of  the  situation.  But  the  day  came  when  he  could 
no  longer  do  that  —  the  liquor  ha'd  him  by  the  throat. 
When  he  tried  to  return  to  freedom  and  sobriety  he  could 
not.  What  prevented  him?  The  results  of  his  own  acts 
registered  within.  Between  him  and  the  sane,  sound  man 
who  was  able  to  ignore  the  appeal  of  rum,  there  was  a 
great  gulf  fixed  —  it  had  been  dug  by  the  hands  of  his  own 
growing  appetite. 

Here  is  a  man  who  lives  a  prayerless,  godless,  unloving 
life  until  the  habit  becomes  fixed!  His  lips  refuse  to  move 
in  prayer.     His  heart  makes  no  response  when  the  name, 


382  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

the  idea,  the  truth  of  God  is  held  before  him!  His  own 
heart  does  not  react  in  love  under  the  stimulus  of  human 
need.  Between  him  and  the  prayerful,  godly,  loving  life 
he  might  have  lived  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed  by  his  own 
persistent  neglect.  We  ignore  any  of  the  higher,  finer 
values  in  human  existence  at  our  peril  —  by  and  by  we  see 
that  they  are  beyond  our  reach. 

This  persistence  of  type  has  its  good  as  well  as  its  evil 
aspect.  It  aids  us  mightily  when  we  stand  on  the  right  side 
of  the  crevass.  Good  character  also  tends  to  fixity.  When 
the  right  has  been  chosen  a  thousand  times  the  appropriate 
action  becomes  well-nigh  automatic.  Between  the  soul 
thus  established  in  ways  of  righteousness  and  the  ways  of 
evil  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed  consequent  upon  years  of 
plain  fidelity  to  duty. 

The  parable  is  not  to  be  pressed  on  all  fours.  There  is 
no  suggestion  here  that  every  rich  man  goes  into  a  place  of 
torment  and  every  poor  man  to  Abraham's  bosom.  Dives 
is  not  sent  to  hell  because  he  is  rich  but  because  he  has 
shown  himself  inhuman.  The  varying  circumstances  of 
men  of  which  we  make  so  much  were  scarcely  noticed  by 
the  Master.  He  was  intent  upon  the  quality  of  the  life 
within  rather  than  upon  the  richness  or  the  simplicity  of  its 
outward  setting. 

The  picture  includes  no  reference  to  the  earthly  character 
of  Lazarus  —  this  is  to  be  inferred  by  what  followed.  And 
it  might  have  w^eakened  the  power  of  the  appeal  had  Jesus 
represented  him  as  a  saint.  It  was  enough  that  he  was  a 
sufTerer.  Regardless  of  his  personal  worth,  his  dire  need 
established  a  claim  at  Dives'  gate  which  must  not  be 
ignored. 

How  many  current  estimates  are  reversed  by  the  Divine 
Judgment!  Jesus  called  the  beggar  on  the  curbstone  by 
name  —  Lazarus,   "One  whom  God  helps."     The  name  of 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         383 

the  man  in  the  palace  is  not  given  —  he  was  merely  "  A 
Certain  Rich  Man."  In  these  days  everybody  knows  the 
names  of  the  rich  men  and  nobody  knows  the  names  of  the 
beggars.  But  the  first  shall  be  last  and  the  last  first  when 
the  more  searching  appraisement  of  the  Master  is  laid  upon 
the  values  involved. 

The  adequacy  of  the  moral  appeal  of  the  truth,  all  apart 
from  "  signs  and  wonders,"  is  here  again  affirmed  by  our 
Lord.  "They  have  Moses  and  the  prophets  —  let  them 
hear  them."  But  there  was  an  insistence  upon  some  form 
of  physical  demonstration  which  might  further  validate  the 
moral  claim  of  the  truth.  "  If  one  went  to  them  from  the 
dead,  they  would  repent."  But  the  same  reply  came  back, 
"If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets  neither  will 
they  be  persuaded  though  one  rose  from  the  dead."  It 
was  the  habit  of  the  Master  to  exalt  the  moral  appeal 
far  above  the  compelling  "  sign  "  or  "  wonder  "  for  which 
the  popular  interest  clamored.  "  Ye  shall  know  the  truth, 
and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free." 

The  inequality  of  condition  pictured  and  the  selfish 
disregard  shown  by  comfort  to  helpless  need  are  here  con- 
demned by  our  Lord  as  in  the  highest  degree  reprehensible. 
They  led  to  a  still  more  glaring  inequality  of  condition  in 
that  future  world  where  Lazarus  was  "  comforted  "  and  the 
selfish  worldling  was  "  tormented." 

How  far  can  the  showy  luxury  of  many  professedly 
Christian  households  in  our  own  day  justify  itself  at  the  bar 
of  conscience  when  ranged  up  alongside  of  the  bitter,  des- 
perate, degrading  poverty  within  gunshot! 

There  are  people  in  all  our  cities  who  live  without 
working  —  they  toil  not  neither  do  they  spin,  yet  they  are 
clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  faring  sumptuously  every 
day.  And  there  are  other  people  who  work  without  living. 
They  toil  and  spin  in  whirring  mills  and  noisy  factories; 


384  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

they  dig  and  delve  in  the  mines;  and  yet  their  narrow 
portion  of  human  satisfaction  could  scarcely  be  called  by 
the  most  liberal  interpretation  "  living."  Both  classes  are 
a  standing  reproach  to  Christian  civilization.  It  is  the  will 
of  God  that  all  able-bodied,  able-minded  men  and  women 
should  "  labor  six  days  and  do  all  their  work  ";  and  it  is  his 
will  that  in  the  organization  of  their  efforts  and  in  the 
principles  which  control  the  distribution  of  the  joint  product 
they  should  come  to  him  that  they  might  have  life. 

The  social  demand  of  our  time  is  for  something  more 
fundamental  than  the  occasional  open-handed  charities 
from  Dives  to  Lazarus.  The  note  of  justice  is  struck  in 
the  prevailing  social  demand  and  it  is  a  deeper  note  than 
the  note  of  pity.  If  the  people  in  purple  and  fine  linen 
had  only  what  they  actually  earn  by  useful  service  ren- 
dered to  society,  and  if  the  men  of  meager  ability  had  all 
that  they  earn  undiminished  by  the  unjust  toll  taken  from 
it  oftentimes  by  those  who  stand  where  they  can  levy 
upon  it,  then  the  threatening  unrest  and  angry  agitation 
would  be  greatly  reduced. 

We  are  all  members  one  of  another  in  the  sight  of  him 
with  whom  we  have  to  do.  The  sore  spots  in  the  life  of 
the  man  at  the  gate  cannot  be  ignored.  The  air  of  haughty 
indifference  and  contempt  toward  the  struggles,  oftentimes 
ill-advised  and  blamable,  of  the  v/orking  people  is  not  the 
atmosphere  of  the  New  Testament.  The  attitude  which 
would  deny  to  the  needy  anything  better  than  "  the  crumbs" 
which  fall  from  the  table  of  plenty  is  sure  to  bring  its 
proud  possessor  into  m.oral  perdition.  We  have  Moses  and 
the  prophets  —  let  us  hear  them  and  heed  them  if  we  would 
avert  disaster! 


LXIV 
THE  UNSEEN  ADVANCE  OF  THE  KINGDOM 

Luke  17  :  20-37 

"  The  Pharisees  asked  when  the  kingdom  of  God  cometh." 
They  wanted  Jesus  to  name  a  date  for  the  expected  con- 
summation of  moral  desire.  They  had  fixed  their  eyes  so 
long  and  so  intently  upon  the  body  of  religion  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  any  real  fellowship  with  the  soul  of  it  that  they 
were  incapable  of  dealing  with  aught  else  but  the  ex- 
ternal. 

They  did  not  realize  that  a  spiritual  kingdom  begins  in 
movements  which  cannot  easily  be  dated.  It  proceeds  by 
methods  which  cannot  be  visibly  scheduled.  It  is  like  the 
movement  of  a  cool  breeze  through  a  tired  city  at  the  end 
of  a  sultry  day  in  midsummer.  The  breeze  brings  comfort, 
healing  and  quickened  energy  to  all  the  drooping  spirits  in 
that  city,  yet  no  one  can  tell  exactly  where  it  began  or  to 
what  point  in  space  it  has  gone.  So  is  the  life  that  is 
born  of  the  Spirit.  So  are  the  moral  movements  which  are 
to  establish  the  Kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  The  line  of 
progress  cannot  be  mapped  out  in  advance,  nor  can  dates 
be  set  as  in  the  schedules  of  personally  conducted  tourists. 

The  Kingdom  of  God  cometh  not  with  observation  and 
headlines.  When  the  sensation-lovers  and  the  sensation- 
mongers  are  saying  from  noisy  platforms  and  from  glowing 
billboards,  "  Lo  here,"  or  "  Lo  there,"  the  chances  are  that 
they  are  altogether  on  the  wrong  scent.  For  lo,  the  Kingdom 
of  God  is  within! 

It   has   taken    the   poor   deluded   world   a   long   time   to 

385 


386  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

accept  the  implications  of  this  fundamental  principle.  Its 
eyes  are  still  upon  mechanism  and  its  confidence  in  some 
external  appliance  to  usher  in  the  reign  of  human  well- 
being  rather  than  in  those  inward,  spiritual  transformations 
which  have  in  them  potent  promise  of  lasting  good. 

In  these  days  of  wireless  telegraphy  the  ships  whisper 
to  each  other  across  the  sea.  No  one  who  watches  the 
process  from  the  outside  sees  anything  or  hears  anything  — 
only  those  who  are  doing  the  whispering  understand.  And 
in  all  the  busy  haunts  of  men  the  needs,  the  yearnings,  the 
unrealized  capacities  of  the  plain  people  are  whispering  to 
the  heart  of  God.  The  maker  of  headlines  and  pictures 
cannot  behold  this  process  and  say,  "  Lo  here "  or "  Lo 
there."  But  the  Lord  hears  and  feels  and  understands. 
He  is  a  Perfect  Receiver  as  well  as  the  Great  Giver.  He 
hears  and  makes  response  and  thus  the  kingdom  comes 
without  observation. 

In  these  days  when  many  have  fallen  into  a  way  of 
thinking  that  nothing  can  be  done  until  we  get  a  majority 
and  a  big  organization,  a  Constitution  and  By-laws,  twenty- 
five  committees  and  much  machinery  of  all  kinds,  it  is 
refreshing  to  turn  back  to  the  method  of  Jesus  in  making 
the  world  better.  I  wonder  if  he  ever  served  on  a  com- 
mittee —  nothing  is  said  about  it.  He  moved  about 
among  men  "  a  creative,  masterful,  triumphant  personality  " 
with  the  kingdom  of  God  in  his  own  soul.  He  spoke  to 
the  best  that  was  within  the  breasts  of  those  he  met  and 
that  best  made  its  response  in  such  terms  that  others  knew 
of  a  truth  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  also  within 
them.  The  power  of  initiative  was  in  waiting  in  every 
human  heart  listening  for  the  summons  to  act. 

This  talk  about  people  being  the  helpless  victims  of 
circumstances;  this  talk  about  men  being  ruled  entirely  by 
dollars;  this    talk    about    "  the   economic    interpretation    of 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         387 

history  "  seems  like  the  broken  words  of  men  talking  in 
their  sleep.  The  men  who  advocate  these  views  are  build- 
ing ambitious  doctrines  on  insufficient  data.  They  are 
over-emphasizing  a  single  set  of  facts,  leaving  out  of  their 
consideration  other  determining  factors. 

Tell  the  veterans  of  our  Civil  War  to  apply  the  doctrine 
of  "  the  economic  interpretation  of  history  "  to  what  they 
did!  Tell  them  that  they  enlisted  and  went  South  to  be 
shot  at  because  of  their  love  for  the  magnificent  sum  of 
fourteen  dollars  a  month  and  hardtack!  They  would  laugh 
the  notion  to  scorn.  They  went  down  cheerily  to  hard- 
ship, disease  and  death  sustained  by  their  devotion  to  two 
great  ideals  —  the  preservation  of  the  integrity  of  our  com- 
mon country  and  the  wiping  away  from  this  broad  land 
of  the  stain  of  slavery.  They  knew  and  we  know  and  God 
knows  that  history  is  shaped  by  great  ideals  as  those 
ideals  become  incarnate  in  human  personality.  The  king- 
dom of  heaven  is  within  men  —  it  always  has  been,  is  now 
and  ever  shall  be. 

If  the  world  of  industry  is  nothing  but  the  fight  of  a 
lot  of  selfish  dogs  for  the  possession  of  som^e  bones,  then  it 
does  not  matter  much  whether  the  dogs  are  living  under  a 
capitalistic  system  or  a  socialistic  system,  the  biggest  dogs 
will  get  the  best  bones  and  the  smaller  dogs  will  stand 
round  licking  their  chops  waiting  patiently  to  take  what  is 
left.  But  if  the  world  of  industry  is  a  family  of  children, 
with  one  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  utilizing  the  resources 
placed  at  their  disposal  by  his  wise  beneficence;  and  if 
that  great  truth  can  be  made  to  sink  into  their  souls, 
maintaining  there  a  sound  principle  of  life,  there  is  hope 
that  the  strong  will  joyously  bear  the  infirmities  of  the 
weak  and  not  merely  please  themselves.  There  is  hope  that 
the  principle  of  consideration  for  one  another  shall  become 
our  Master  and  all  of  us  be  brethren  in  the  practice  of  that 


38S  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

method.  And  that  state  of  life  can  only  come  from  a  new 
disposition  within. 

The  Master  told  the  Pharisees  that.  It  was  not  what 
they  wanted  to  hear.  They  wanted  the  exact  date  of  the 
overthrow  of  the  Roman  Rule  and  the  ushering  in  of  a 
Hebrew  Theocracy.  Their  minds  were  intent  upon  the 
outer  machinery  of  life  to  which  they  looked  for  well- 
being.  It  seemed  to  them  a  mockery  of  their  hopes  to  be 
told  that  the  kingdom  of  God  if  it  was  anywhere  was 
within  men.  They  were  eager  to  see  something  cataclysmic 
and  catastrophic  (to  use  two  very  large  and  unmanageable 
words),  and  they  could  not  readily  conceive  of  the  advance 
of  a  spiritual  empire  whose  action  was  like  leaven. 

Then  he  turned  to  his  disciples  and  said,  "  The  days  will 
come  when  ye  shall  desire  to  see  one  of  the  days  of  the 
Son  of  Man  and  ye  shall  not  see  it."  And  he  pictured  the 
preoccupation  of  men  with  external  things  reaching  such  a 
pass  as  to  entirely  exclude  interest  in  things  spiritual. 
As  it  was  in  the  time  of  Noah  — ''  They  were  eating,  they 
were  drinking;  they  were  marrying,  they  were  being  given 
in  marriage  (the  succession  of  imperfect  tenses  indicating 
how  they  were  wholly  given  up  to  external  things),  until 
the  day  Noah  entered  the  ark.  So  also  it  shall  be  in  the 
days  of  the  Son  of  Man."  Jesus  foretold  that  same  preoc- 
cupation with  the  external  to  the  defeat  of  his  own  spiri- 
tual purpose  for  the  race. 

It  was  the  same  in  the  days  of  Lot.  They  ate,  they 
drank,  they  bought,  they  sold,  they  planted,  they  builded, 
as  if  these  material  concerns  were  of  the  highest  moment 
and  of  eternal  duration,  until  it  rained  fire  and  brimstone 
from  heaven  and  destroyed  them  all. 

The  naming  of  these  two  great  catastrophes,  the  deluge 
and  the  destructi6n  of  Sodom,  in  connection  with  this  warn- 
ing  as    to   a   sinful    preoccupation   with   external   interests 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE   KINGDOM         389 

seems  to  point  to  some  sudden  catastrophe  which  Jesus  was 
foreteUing.  In  the  parallel  passage  in  Matthew  it  is  easy 
to  connect  many  of  his  words  with  the  siege  of  Jerusalem 
and  the  flight  of  the  people.  But  this  event  would  hardly 
throw  light  upon  the  diverse  fate  of  the  "  two  men  in  one 
bed,"  or  the  "  two  women  grinding  at  the  mill,"  or  of  the 
"  two  men  in  the  field." 

"It  is  not  easy  to  interpret  this  series  of  warning  ut- 
terances with  one  consistent  application  throughout," 
says  W.  S.  Adeney.  "The  idea  running  through  them  all 
is  that  of  '  the  revelation  of  the  Son  of  Man.'  When  that 
occurs  these  things  will  happen.  But  possibly  it  may  occur 
in  various  ways.  .  .  .  The  language  seems  to  be  of  a  deeper 
and  more  mysterious  character  referring  to  some  greater 
advent  of  Christ  for  the  rescue  of  his  people  when  destruc- 
tion is  to  fall  upon  those  who  have  not  heeded  his  warn- 
ings. Possibly  Luke  has  strung  together  sayings  of  Jesus 
on  this  subject  uttered  on  various  occasions  and  with 
various  immediate  bearings,  some  designed  to  give  specific 
advice  for  the  time  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem,  others  of 
wider  and  more  general  application  to  the  discriminating 
judgment  that  awaits  all  souls." 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  preoccupation  of  those  who 
had  become  so  worldly  and  self-indulgent  as  to  lose  all 
interest  in  the  advance  of  a  spiritual  kingdom  was  with 
things  which  are  in  themselves  not  only  innocent,  but 
praiseworthy.  It  is  meet  and  right  and  the  bounden  duty 
of  men  to  eat  and  drink,  buy  and  sell,  plant  and  build, 
marry  and  rear  families.  The  warning  of  Jesus  is  uttered 
against  that  utter  absorption  of  interest  in  the  mere  external 
values  and  satisfactions  to  be  found  in  these  activities 
which  precludes  the  seeking  and  finding  of  an  eternal  king- 
dom of  value  by  the  nobler  use  we  make  of  these  things 
external. 


390  THE   MASTER'S   WAY 

"  Remember  Lot's  wife."  The  homely  reference  is  to 
the  shortsighted  action  of  one  whose  reluctance  to  sub- 
ordinate her  attachment  to  things  external  in  the  face  of  a 
supreme  duty  to  escape  from  the  fearful  judgment  which 
was  overtaking  the  foul  wickedness  of  the  community  in 
which  she  had  dwelt,  cost  her  her  life.  Remember  the  folly 
of  those  unhappy  souls  whose  fond  attachment  to  things 
perishable  has  cut  them  off  from  the  possession  of  treasures 
which  endure. 

In  that  primitive  picture  of  moral  processes  we  read  that 
"  Adam  and  his  wife  hid  themselves  from  the  presence  of 
the  Lord  God  among  the  trees  of  the  garden."  The  garden 
was  good,  a  place  of  the  Lord's  own  planting,  and  the  trees 
formed  an  essential  part  of  it.  But  somehow  the  man  and 
the  woman  allowed  the  lovely  trees  which  sheltered,  shaded 
and  fed  them  to  obscure  the  God  who  had  given  them  the 
garden.  "The  Great  Lord  save  our  civilization  and  save 
us  from  the  power  of  our  civilization,  keeping  us  where  we 
can  see  his  face  and  hear  his  voice  in  spite  of  the  trees." 


LXV 

THE  FRIEND  OF  THOSE  WHO  HAD  FAILED 
Luke  18:  9-15;   19:1-10 

Here  were  two  men  on  their  way  to  church.  When  the 
service  was  over  one  man  had  gotten  something  out  of  it, 
the  other  nothing  at  all.  They  both  went  into  the  temple 
to  pray,  and  they  both  prayed  —  each  man  brought  forth 
a  prayer  after  his  kind.  And  when  they  had  finished  their 
devotions,  one  man  had  been  blessed,  the  other  was  un- 
blessed. 

The  whole  difference  lay  in  the  line  of  approach.  The 
temple  was  the  same  solid  stone  fact  for  both  men  and  the 
temple  service  with  its  lessons  and  its  prayers  made  identi- 
cally the  same  appeal  to  both.  But  one  man  stood  well 
up  in  front,  pluming  himself  on  his  virtues,  thanking  God 
that  he  was  not  as  other  men  are,  while  the  other  saw 
nothing,  felt  nothing,  mentioned  nothing  but  his  own  sense 
of  moral  failure. 

One  man  bragged  about  his  virtues;  the  other  begged 
forgiveness  for  his  sins.  One  man  trusted  in  himself  that 
he  was  righteous;  the  other  trusted  in  God  that  he  would 
be  merciful.  One  man  "  pointed  with  pride,"  as  they  say 
in  political  conventions,  to  his  moral  achievements;  the 
other  "  viewed  with  alarm  "  his  own  deficiencies.  And  the 
man  whose  mood  is  indicated  in  the  second  half  of  each 
of  these  antitheses  went  down  to  his  house  justified  rather 
than  the  other. 

"  The  Pharisee  stood  and  prayed  thus  with  himself." 
The  whole  transaction  was  entirely  subjective.     He  never 

391 


392  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

got  beyond  himself  nor  above  himself  in  the  movements  of 
his  soul.  His  prayer  did  not  rise  to  the  ceiling  —  it  did  not 
rise  any  higher  than  to  the  top  of  his  own  swollen  head. 
It  was  indeed  a  bit  of  self-congratulatory  communion 
"  with  himself." 

The  Pharisee,  like  all  egotists,  was  expert  in  his  use  of 
the  capital  I.  "I  am  not  as  other  men  are.  I  fast  twice 
in  the  week.  I  give  tithes."  I,  I,  I!  The  big,  haughty 
pronoun,  first  person,  singular  number,  provocative  mood, 
marched  at  the  head  of  his  prayer  like  a  drum-major 
with  bearskin  and  big  baton.  How  far  he  was  from  the 
attitude  of  prayer!  How  far  he  was  from  the  Kingdom  of 
God! 

And  what  a  wretched  ladder  he  employed  in  climbing 
up  into  his  fat  complacency!  "  Thank  God  I  am  not  as 
other  men  are."  What  other  men?  "  Unjust,  extortioners, 
adulterers."  The  lowest,  meanest  men  he  could  name  — 
men  who  had  been  robbing  their  fellows  and  debauching 
families.  It  must  have  been  gratifying  to  feel  that  he  had 
not  been  beaten  in  a  moral  race  with  such  rascals! 

How  lifelike  is  the  picture!  When  some  meager  soul 
seeks  to  justify  his  own  failure  in  not  having  openly  pro- 
fessed his  faith  in  Christ  and  assumed  his  rightful  obliga- 
tion as  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church,  he  wilL  often 
say,  "  I  feel  that  I  can  be  just  as  good  outside  of  the 
church  as  some  church  members  are."  And  when  you  in- 
quire as  to  the  terms  of  his  comparison  you  find  that  he  is 
not  measuring  his  spiritual  achievements  by  those  of  the 
active  and  normal  Christian.  He  has  picked  out  some  poor 
runt  of  a  church  member  who  never  succeeded  in  measur- 
ing up  to  anything  like  the  ordinary  standard  of  Christian 
life  and  service.  "  Thank  God  I  am  not  an  extortioner  or 
an  adulterer  "  —  what  a  ground  for  boastful  complacency! 

The   publican   with    downcast   eye   and    burdened    heart 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         393 

smote  upon  his  breast,  saying,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me — 
a  sinner."  And  he  went  out  blessed  rather  than  the  other. 
Complacency  is  the  foe  of  aspiration  while  the  sense  of 
need  prompts  the  man  who  is  honest  with  himself  to  aspire 
and  to  strive.  Appetite  is  a  sign  of  health.  Blessed  are 
they  that  hunger  after  righteousness  —  they  shall  be  filled. 

But  there  was  another  publican  who  came  upon  the 
scene  at  this  time.  The  second  one  is  not  the  storied 
publican  of  the  familiar  parable  but  a  real  publican  in 
the  every-day  life  of  the  city  of  Jericho.  And  in  this  case 
as  in  the  other,  salvation  came  to  the  man's  house  and 
to  his  heart  because  the  door  was  open. 

In  this  second  passage  the  Master  was  dining  out.  He 
was  dining  with  a  rich  man.  He  had  invited  himself  be- 
cause the  rich  man  would  never  have  thought  of  inviting 
a  noted  teacher  of  religion  to  his  home.  The  rich  man  had 
a  good  home,  plenty  to  eat,  and  would  have  been  glad  to 
exercise  the  grace  of  hospitality,  but  no  respectable  person 
in  Jericho  would  accept  his  invitations. 

The  rich  man  was  a  publican,  that  is  to  say,  a  tax  col- 
lector for  the  hated  Roman  government.  The  tax  collec- 
tor in  any  country  is  not  likely  to  be  as  popular  as  Santa 
Glaus.  But  in  Palestine,  where  the  taxes  were  "  farmed  " 
and  a  deal  of  graft  and  corruption  was  mixed  up  with  the 
business  of  collecting  revenue,  the  tax  collector  stood  so- 
cially about  where  a  gambler  or  a  rum  seller  stands  with  us. 
He  was  ostracized.  He  could  not  even  go  to  church  with- 
out incurring  the  risk  of  hearing  some  Pharisee  say,  'Thank 
God  I  am  not  as  other  men  are,  unjust,  extortioners, 
adulterers,  or  even  as  this  publican."  ^ 

It  meant  much,  therefore,  when  Jesus  stopped,  looked 
up  into,  the  tree,  uttered  the  tax  collector's  name  in  tones 
of  respect  and  suggested  that  he  would  like  to  dine  with 
him.     Zaccheus  made  haste,  came  down  and  received  him 


394  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

joyfully.  He  walked  down  the  street  with  the  Master  at 
his  side  as  one  who  dreamed.  He  had  bread  to  eat  which 
his  hungry  heart  had  known  not  of  for  many  a  day. 

The  people  murmured.  "  Gone  to  be  the  guest  of  a  man 
that  is  a  sinner."  They  insinuated  that  "  there  must  be  a 
screw  loose  somewhere"  —  a  man  is  known  by  the  com- 
pany he  keeps!  They  felt  that  if  Jesus  were  a  prophet 
he  would  not  have  passed  by  all  the  leading  church 
members  in  Jericho  in  order  to  be  the  guest  of  a 
tax  collector. 

The  Master  heard  their  murmuring  but  was  undisturbed. 
He  was  always  ready  to  pay  the  full  price  of  doing  good  in 
his  own  way.  There  never  was  an  hour  from  the  time 
when  he  faced  the  devil  in  the  wilderness  until  he  hung  upon 
the  cross  when  he  was  not  willing  to  be  wounded  for  the 
transgressions  of  others,  to  be  bruised  by  their  iniquities 
that  by  his  stripes  they  might  be  healed.  He  was  ready  to 
incur  suspicion,  ridicule,  hatred  in  order  to  put  himself  in 
open  alliance  with  the  better  nature  of  that  man  whom  he 
would  help. 

The  Master  saw  within  the  figure  of  that  hated  tax  collec- 
tor another  and  a  better  man.  Zaccheus,  a  publican  and  a 
sinner,  a  grafter  and  a  miser!  But  Zaccheus,  also  poten- 
tially a  son  of  Abraham,  a  child  of  the  Eternal,  a  man 
destined  to  have  his  part  in  that  moral  movement  in  which 
all  the  nations  of  the  earth  are  being  blessed. 

The  man  within  the  man!  The  capacity  in  waiting,  the 
potential  goodness,  temporarily  overborne  by  the  load  of 
wrongdoing,  the  raw  material  for  something  high  and  fine 
in  quality  —  it  was  that  which  Christ  saw  and  addressed  as 
he  sat  at  meat  in  the  house  of  the  publican!  It  is  the 
divine  way.  The  Almighty  deals  with  us  habitually,  not  in 
terms  of  our  present  moral  achievement,  but  with  reference 
to  those  latent  energies  awaiting  his  touch,   those  hidden 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         395 

capacities  for  spiritual  advance,  which  he  recognizes  in 
every  man. 

Here  within  this  blundering  fellow  whose  selfishness  and 
conceit  make  him  so  repellent  is  another  fellow  of  a  finer 
type!  Hidden  away  in  that  sullen  lump  of  flesh  is  a  real 
human  being  waiting  for  the  right  touch.  It  is  one  of  the 
glories  of  our  Christian  religion  that  it  does  make  silk 
purses  out  of  sows'  ears  —  even  out  of  such  a  sow's  ear 
as  that. 

If  that  very  man  could  be  gotten  out  from  under  the 
cover  of  his  own  conceit  where  he  could  see  that  there  are 
stars  in  the  sky,  where  he  could  feel  the  tug  and  lift  of 
God's  interest  in  him,  where  he  could  view  himself  as  he  is 
and  as  he  might  be,  his  repentance  would  be  like  the  break- 
ing up  of  a  great  deep.  He  might  speedily  be  started  on 
that  line  of  moral  advance  where  he  would  wear  that  "  new 
name "  which  denotes  each  man's  capacity  for  qualities 
now  in  abeyance. 

When  Jesus  by  his  words  and  by  the  power  of  fellowship 
at  the  table  of  Zaccheus  had  awakened  in  the  soul  of  the 
man  desire  and  resolve  for  better  things,  he  promptly  in- 
dicated where  those  better  impulses  should  find  expression. 
We  can  judge  of  what  the  Master  said  by  the  reaction 
produced  in  Zaccheus.  The  man  began  to  get  up  at  the 
very  point  where  he  had  fallen  down. 

The  two  most  serious  faults  in  the  life  of  Zaccheus  had 
been  these,  he  was  dishonest  and  he  was  stingy.  Now  the 
first  two  words  on  the  lips  of  this  awakened  man  are 
"  Restore  "  and  "  Give."  If  I  have  taken  anything  from 
any  man  by  false  accusation,  I  restore  him  fourfold.  The 
half  of  my  goods  I  give  to  the  poor. 

''Restore  —  Give."  New  words  they  were  on  the  lips 
of  Zaccheus!  Buy,  sell,  get,  gain,  hold,  enjoy  —  these 
words  he  knew.     He  could  utter  them  glibly  and  act  upon 


396  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

them.  But  "  restore "  and  "  give "  almost  stuck  in  his 
throat  Hke  Macbeth's  "Amen."  He  had  to  clear  his 
throat  twice  to  get  them  out,  but  out  they  came,  an- 
nouncing the  new  principle  of  action  which  had  come  that 
day  to  his  house. 

In  theological  phrase  we  call  that  action  "  repentance." 
It  is  a  costly  thing,  as  you  see  at  a  glance  in  the  case  of 
this  rich  man.  Tears  are  cheap  —  as  cheap  as  rainwater. 
Remorse  is  cheap  —  it  may  be  only  the  discomfort  and 
humiliation  a  bad  man  suffers  in  being  found  out.  But 
repentance  is  more  precious  than  diamonds  and  rubies. 
It  means  an  about  face,  the  cutting  out  of  evil  habits, 
the  cleaning  up  of  the  life,  the  facing  toward  the  light  with 
one's  trust  in  Him  with  whom  there  is  no  darkness  at  all. 
When  this  process  is  in  operation  in  any  life  one  can  see 
salvation  coming  to  that  house  in  power  and  great  glory. 

This  newness  of  life  in  Zaccheus  began  about  noon  when 
the  two  men  sat  at  meat.  It  grew  rapidly.  It  went  on 
adding  cubit  after  cubit  to  its  stature  until  before  sundown 
it  was  showing  that  sturdy  strength  which  enabled  it  to  do 
the  deeds  of  a  moral  giant.  When  newness  of  life  rises 
rapidly  into  such  strength  as  to  restore  fourfold  for  every 
penny  taken  wrongfully  and  bestow  half  of  all  it  has  upon 
the  poor,  we  know  that  it  is  a  plant  of  the  Lord's  own 
planting. 


LXVI 
THE  PARABLE  OF  THE  HOURS 
Matt.  20  : 1-16 

Here  is  a  lesson  clothed  in  economic  terms  and  actions 
so  eccentric  as  to  cut  straight  across  the  grain  of  what  we 
esteem  right  method!  The  working  day  when  Christ  spoke 
extended  from  six  a.m.  to  six  p.m.  This  householder 
hired  men  early  in  the  morning  to  work  in  his  vineyard. 
He  hired  others  at  nine  o'clock  ("  the  third  hour  ")  and 
others  at  noon,  others  at  three  o'clock  and  a  final  group 
at  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  having  then  only  one  hour 
to  work  before  quitting  time.  And  when  he  came  to  settle 
with  them  he  paid  them  all  the  same  wage.  He  gave 
them  a  shilling  apiece  all  around,  to  those  who  had  worked 
the  twelve  hours  through  and  to  those  who  had  toiled  but 
a  single  hour. 

It  was  an  odd  thing  to  do.  It  had  the  appearance  of 
injustice  —  had  not  the  men  who  set  to  work  in  the  early 
morning  a  right  to  murmur,  saying,  "  These  last  have 
wrought  but  one  hour  and  thou  hast  made  them  equal  unto 
us  who  have  borne  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  day." 
The  action  of  the  employer  would  surely  provoke  discon- 
tent and  become  subversive  of  discipline  in  the  work  of  the 
vineyard.  How  long  could  a  modern  factory  run  with 
such  fantastic  methods  of  remuneration? 

The  parable  also  puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  employer 
sentiments  which  seem  to  us  reprehensible.  "Is  it  not 
lawful  for  me  to  do  what  I  will  with  mine  own?  "  What 
I  will?  —  emphatically  no!     Where  a  man  wills  to  do  that 

397 


398  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

which  is  whimsical  or  unjust  or  cruel  "with  his  own" 
the  economic  rights  of  the  community  are  invaded.  When 
the  early  Christians  were  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  a  Pente- 
costal blessing,  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  speaking  with 
other  tongues  and  acting  from  other  motives  than  those 
which  ruled  the  hearts  of  their  neighbors,  "  No  man  said 
that  aught  of  the  things  that  he  possessed  were  his  own  " 
to  do  with  as  he  would.  We  cannot  accept  such  an  im- 
moral statement —  "Is  it  not  lawful  to  do  what  I  will  with 
mine  own?  " 

But  the  Master  was  not  teaching  economics  —  he  was 
teaching  morals  and  inculcating  those  moods  which  bear 
upon  the  securing  and  the  maturing  of  the  right  type  of 
spiritual  life.  And  when  we  come  to  study  this  eccentric 
picture  of  a  certain  economic  transaction  we  find  that  it 
does  throw  a  flood  of  light  upon  the  question  of  motive. 

"  The  Parable  of  the  Pounds  illustrates  the  proposition 
that  where  ability  is  equal,  quantity  determines  relative 
merit.  In  this  parable  each  servant  received  one  pound, 
but  the  quantity  of  work  done  varied  and  the  reward 
varied  accordingly.  The  Parable  of  the  Talents  illustrates 
the  proposition  that  when  ability  varies,  then  not  the  abso- 
lute quantity  of  work  done  but  the  ratio  of  the  achieve- 
ment to  the  ability  of  the  worker  determines  the  reward. 
One  man  received  five  and  gained  five,  one  received  two 
and  gained  two  —  the  two  were  held  to  be  equal  in  merit 
and  were  equally  rewarded.  The  Parable  of  the  Hours  em- 
phasizes the  supreme  value  of  motive  as  a  factor  in  deter- 
mining moral  value.  The  small  quantity  of  work  done  in 
a  right  spirit  was  of  greater  value  than  a  large  quantity 
done  in  a  wrong  spirit." 

The  first  men  were  paid  last  and  were  paid  least  be- 
cause they  went  to  work  in  a  bargaining  spirit.  "  The 
householder  went  out  early  in  the  morning  to  hire  laborers 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         399 

and  when  he  had  agreed  with  them  for  a  shiUing  (Am. 
R.  V.)  a  day,  he  sent  them  into  his  vineyard."  They  had 
made  a  definite  bargain  with  their  employer  and  he  natu- 
rally expected  them  to  stand  to  it.  But  when  he  hired 
the  other  groups  of  men  no  bargain  was  made.  He  simply 
said  to  each  group  at  the  third  hour  or  at  the  sixth  hour 
or  at  the  eleventh  hour,  "Go  ye  also  into  the  vineyard  and 
whatsoever  is  right  I  will  give  you." 

And  they  went  with  no  specific  wage  scale  signed  up  in 
advance.  They  went  trusting  that  he  would  indeed  do 
**  what  was  right."  They  went  as  Abraham  went,  not 
knowing  exactly  whither,  but  moving  in  the  spirit  of  moral 
faith.  And  when  their  reward  came  they  received  much 
more  in  proportion  to  the  investment  of  time  and  strength 
than  did  the  men  who  had  bargained  for  their  reward. 

The  quality  of  motive  as  well  as  "  labor-time  "  is  noted 
and  rated  by  the  Master  of  all  the  higher  values.  The 
men  in  the  parable  who  sold  their  service  for  so  much  re- 
ceived exactly  what  they  bargained  for  —  no  injustice  was 
done  to  them.  The  men  who  went  actively  to  work  in  the 
spirit  of  trust,  leaving  the  result  to  the  wise  judgment  and 
honest  heart  of  him  whom  they  served,  received  vastly 
more  in  proportion  to  the  effort  expended.  They  were 
serving  one  who  looketh  not  merely  on  the  outward  per- 
formance but  upon  the  heart  which  holds  the  motive  lying 
back  of  the  performance.  The  spirit  of  the  hireling  is  not 
the  spirit  which  comes  in  for  the  more  generous  recogni- 
tion at  the  hands  of  him  unto  whom  all  hearts  are  open. 

If  the  main  purpose  of  this  householder  had  been  to 
secure  the  largest  possible  amount  of  work  for  the  expendi- 
ture of  a  certain  amount  of  money,  then  his  method  in 
dealing  with  these  laborers  engaged  at  the  various  hours  in 
the  day  for  longer  and  shorter  periods  of  service  would 
have  been  altogether  foolish.     But  if  the  main  interest  of 


400  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

the  householder  like  the  One  whom  he  here  represents  was 
the  development  of  a  higher  type  of  man  in  his  service, 
then  the  generous  attention  given  to  the  question  of  motive 
and  the  generous  reward  bestowed  upon  right  motive  are 
abundantly  justified. 

"  The  method  of  the  householder  in  treating  all  alike, 
giving  to  every  workman  a  living,  is  that  which  obtains 
today  in  the  foreign  missionary  service.  The  American 
Board,"  says  one  of  the  secretaries,  "  provides  the  same 
for  all  its  missionaries  —  to  each  a  living.  The  Board 
undertakes  merely  to  maintain  the  man,  to  see  that  he  has 
enough  to  live  on,  no  more,  no  less.  Hence  in  each  field 
the  salary  of  the  new  recruit  and  the  veteran  is  on  the 
same  basis;  the  ablest  leader  and  the  ordinary  workman 
receive  alike.  Their  true  reward  is  found  in  the  joy  of  the 
employ,  the  success  of  the  enterprise,  in  having  a  share, 
larger  or  less,  in  the  common  undertaking.  The  hero  of 
some  mission  field,  its  pioneer,  its  founder,  its  broad- 
visioned,  strong-willed  builder,  is  thus  in  vital  comradeship 
with  an  inconspicuous  teacher  in  some  school  established 
long  after  the  foundations  were  laid  in  his  more  strenuous 
day." 

The  parable  was  called  out  by  Peter's  question,  "  Lo, 
we  have  left  all  and  followed  thee.  What,  then,  shall  we 
have?  "  Peter  was  pluming  himself  on  the  sacrifices  he  had 
made  for  the  coming  Kingdom.  He  would  be  very  grate- 
ful if  the  Lord  would  give  him  a  bit  of  inside  information 
as  to  the  reward  awaiting  those  who  had  come  in  on  the 
ground  floor  of  that  service  to  which  the  Master  had  called 
them. 

The  very  mood  which  prompted  Peter's  thrifty  question 
would  vitiate  the  whole  service  he  might  render  unless  it 
were  corrected.  In  that  mood  Peter  was  not  serving  the 
Lord  at  all  —  he  was  simply  doing  a  little  business  with 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         401 

the  Lord,  swapping  so  much  self-sacrifice  for  certain  valued 
returns.  We  have  left  all  —  what  shall  we  have  then! 
How  hardly  do  many  men  of  Peter's  race  recover  from  the 
attitude  where  their  eyes  are  solely  on  the  main  chance! 

The  Master's  reply  to  Peter  indicated  that  all  such 
calculations  were  headed  wrong.  There  would  come  what 
Mozley  called  "  the  reversal  of  human  judgment."  Many 
that  were  esteemed  last  would  be  seen  to  be  first  and  the 
first  last.  The  small  sacrifice  made  in  the  right  spirit  would 
have  more  value  in  the  eyes  of  him  who  watched  both 
the  wealthy  and  the  widow  as  they  cast  their  offerings 
into  the  treasury,  than  the  great  sacrifices  made  in  the 
bargaining  spirit  which  Peter  evinced. 

"  The  scrutiny  of  the  last  day  by  discovering  the  irrel- 
evant material  in  men's  goodness  may  reduce  to  a  shadow 
much  exalted  earthly  character.  Men  are  made  up  of 
professions,  gifts  and  talents  and  also  of  themselves,  but 
all  so  mixed  together  that  we  cannot  separate  one  element 
from  another.  Another  day  must  show  what  the  moral 
substance  is  and  what  is  only  the  brightness  of  gifts. 
But  if  there  be  a  reversal  of  human  judgment  for  evil, 
there  will  also  be  reversal  of  it  for  good  —  the  solid  work 
which  has  gone  on  in  secret  under  common  exteriors  will 
then  spring  into  light  and  come  out  in  a  glorious  aspect." 

We  are  not  competent  to  compare  the  sacrifices  we  make 
and  the  service  we  render  with  the  service  and  the  sacrifice 
of  others  (as  Peter  was  undertaking  to  do)  in  order  to 
arrive  at  some  just  appraisal  of  the  reward  in  store.  It  is 
not  in  this  mood  that  men  may  enter  the  vineyard  of  the 
Lord  and  achieve  for  him  and  for  themselves  those  high 
ends  he  has  in  view.  He  seeks  the  investment  of  each  life 
through  love  rather  than  for  the  sake  of  a  stipulated  reward. 
He  would  deal  with  us  as  sons  and  not  as  slaves,  sharing 
with  us  the  burden  of  the  establishment  of  his  Kingdom 


402  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

upon  the  earth  and  sharing  with  us  its  glorious  and  perma- 
nent rewards. 

The  parable  is  not  meant  to  give  encouragement  to  the 
thought  of  making  a  late  entrance  into  the  vineyard  of 
service.  The  men  who  set  to  work  at  the  eleventh  hour 
entered  at  the  first  chance  which  came.  "  Why  stand  ye 
here  idle?  "  They  were  able  to  reply  truthfully,  "  Because 
no  man  has  hired  us."  The  moment  the  gate  of  service 
opened  before  them  they  entered  it  with  eagerness. 

Why  do  you  waste  your  day?  Why  do  you  waste  an- 
other single  hour  of  it  if  the  call  of  service  has  indeed 
sounded  in  your  ears?  If  you  will  hear  and  heed  his 
"  Go  ye  into  the  vineyard,"  you  will  find  in  the  great  out- 
come that  "  whatsoever  is  right  "  will  mean  to  you  nothing 
less  than  a  choral  entrance  into  the  joy  of  your  Lord. 


LXVII 
THE  VARYING  USE  OF  EQUAL  OPPORTUNITY 
Luke  19  :  11-27 

The  Parable  of  the  Talents  and  the  Parable  of  the 
Pounds  are  so  much  alike  in  form  that  many  people  have 
regarded  them  as  the  varying  traditions  of  a  single  ut- 
terance of  the  Master.  But  the  differences  outweigh  the 
resemblances.  The  talent  was  a  large  sum  of  money,  the 
pound  a  very  small  sum.  In  the  former  parable  the  in- 
equality of  human  endowment  is  emphasized,  in  the  latter 
all  start  on  an  equal  footing. 

In  the  former  parable  each  man  received  ''  according  to 
his  several  ability."  In  the  latter  all  received  the  same 
original  endowment  and  the  same  opportunity  for  the 
exercise  of  that  ability,  but  they  made  varying  use  of  it. 
Where  ability  is  equal,  then  the  mere  quantity  of  achieve- 
ment will  determine  the  relative  merit.  But  where,  as  in 
the  Parable  of  the  Talents,  the  ability  is  unequal,  then  the 
ratio  of  achievement  must  determine  the  relative  merit. 

Here,  then,  are  the  two  main  lessons  from  each  of  these 
passages  —  men  are  judged  according  to  their  achievements 
in  the  light  of  the  means  at  their  disposal.  Men  are  judged 
by  the  use  they  make  of  those  similar  means  which  are  at 
the  disposal  of  us  all. 

The  particular  occasion  when  the  Parable  of  the  Pounds 
was  spoken  is  to  be  noted.  ''  He  spake  a  parable  because 
he  was  nigh  to  Jerusalem  and  because  they  thought  that 
the  Kingdom  of  God  should  immediately  appear."  Im- 
mediately!    The  direction  their  Master  was  taking  in  going 

403 


404  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

up  to  Jerusalem,  the  popular  enthusiasm  which  attended 
his  progress,  and  their  own  personal  ambitions  had  led  the 
disciples  to  cherish  high  hopes  that  he  was  about  to  set  up 
his  temporal  kingdom  at  the  capital  city  of  his  country. 
They  could  almost  see  themselves  sitting  at  the  right 
hand  and  the  left  hand  of  high  privilege. 

Jesus  therefore  told  them  this  story  about  a  nobleman 
who  was  about  to  go  on  a  long  journey  into  a  far  country. 
He  indicated  a  period  of  time  wherein  m.en  should  trade 
with  the  capital  given  them  so  as  to  make  an  increase  in 
some  cases  of  nine  hundred  per  cent.  It  would  only  be 
"  after  a  long  time  "  that  the  lord  of  those  servants  would 
come  and  reckon  with  them.  Jesus  was  thus  adjusting  the 
over-anxious  expectations  of  his  eager-hearted  follow^ers  to 
the  real  facts  of  the  situation. 

The  nobleman  called  his  ten  servants  and  gave  them  a 
pound  apiece  all  around.  It  was  only  an  insignificant 
sum,  a  little  over  fifteen  dollars  in  our  money.  The  Master 
was  teaching  his  disciples  not  to  despise  the  day  of  small 
things.  Then  the  nobleman  said  to  each  one,  "  Do  busi- 
ness herewith  till  I  come."  He  would  test  the  fidelity  and 
the  capacity  of  each  man  by  ascertaining  how  miuch  he 
could  gain  during  a  given  period  "  by  trading." 

When  the  day  of  reckoning  came,  it  was  found  that  the 
first  man  by  the  wise  and  active  use  of  his  powers  had 
multiplied  his  original  ability  by  ten.  He  was  rev/arded 
by  his  Master  in  word  and  in  deed.  ''  Vv^ell  done,  thou 
good  servant!  Thou  hast  been  faithful  in  a  very  little, 
have  thou  authority  over  ten  cities."  The  scope  of  his 
opportunity  for  the  exercise  of  his  augmented  powers  is 
increased  with  the  increase  of  the  powers  themselves. 

The  second  man  reported  that  he  had  multiplied  his 
original  endowmicnt  by  five.  His  lower  achievement  with 
a   similar   endowment   received    a    less    hearty    recognition, 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         405 

but  he  was  given  authority  over  five  cities.  He  was  given 
an  enlarged  opportunity  commensurate  with  the  increased 
competence  he  had  been  able  to  show. 

The  third  man  came  in  a  fearful,  grudging  spirit,  excus- 
ing his  own  lack  of  performance  by  accusing  the  dispo- 
sition of  another.  "  I  feared  thee  because  thou  art  an 
austere  man,  taking  up  what  thou  didst  not  lay  down  and 
reaping  where  thou  didst  not  sow.  Here  is  thy  pound, 
which  I  have  kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin." 

Here  we  have  a  man  devoid  of  that  quality  which  makes 
possible  the  ventures  of  faith!  He  was  timidly  and  nar- 
rowly bent  on  not  doing  any  harm  in  the  world.  His  life 
was  coldly  negative  rather  than  vigorously  wicked.  He  had 
done  nothing  scandalous.  He  had  not  wasted  a  penny 
of  his  pound  in  riotous  living.  He  had  done  nothing  at  all. 
He  had  laid  himself  up  in  fruitless  inaction.  In  the  day  of 
judgment  there  he  was,  no  more  of  him  and  no  less  than 
on  the  day  when  the  lord  of  values  had  intrusted  him  with 
the  same  original  endowment  bestowed  upon  the  man  who, 
as  a  result  of  his  policy  of  self-realization  along  the  higher 
levels,  finds  himself  with  authority  over  ten  cities. 

In  the  Parable  of  the  Talents  it  is  the  man  who  re- 
ceived the  one  talent  rather  than  those  who  received  the 
larger  measures  of  ability  who  made  no  use  of  his  chance. 
The  man  who  did  nothing  at  all  for  his  master  was  the 
one  whose  share  of  ability  was  most  modest.  "  This  is 
the  peculiar  temptation  of  the  man  who  has  little  ability 
and  sullenly  retires  from  a  service  in  which  he  cannot  out- 
shine and  play  a  conspicuous  part.  Because  he  cannot  do 
as  much  as  he  would  like  to  do,  he  wull  not  do  as  much  as 
he  can." 

How  many  men  are  depressed  by  the  apparent  insignifi- 
cance of  their  powers!  They  would  endow  colleges  and  sup- 
port their  own  missionaries  in  the  foreign  field  if  they  were 


406  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

millionaires  —  so  they  say  —  but  they  neglect  those  lesser 
deeds  of  love  which  lie  within  their  compass.  They  would 
undertake  the  work  of  personal  evangelism  and  strive  to 
bring  others  to  Christ  if  they  were  sure  that  they  possessed 
as  much  ability  along  this  line  as  Dwight  L.  Moody  or 
Henry  Drummond,  but  they  are  reluctant  to  speak  the 
word  to  some  neighbor  which  might  set  his  life  in  a  new 
attitude  toward  Christ!  They  would  prophesy  in  Christ's 
name  and  in  his  name  cast  out  devils  and  in  his  name  do 
many  wonderful  works  if  they  were  only  sure  in  advance 
that  people  would  be  astonished  at  their  efforts,  but  they 
fail  to  bring  forth  that  measure  of  good  fruit  appropriate 
to  the  ability  given  them  that  men  might  know  that  they 
are  faithful  disciples  of  the  Lord. 

Human  life  is  not  all  level  prairie  like  Kansas  and  Ne- 
braska. It  is  a  land  of  hills  and  of  valleys.  In  the  distribu- 
tion of  personal  ability  there  are  elevations  and  depres- 
sions as  one's  eye  sweeps  across  the  surface  noting  the 
varying  levels  of  individual  endowment.  And  these  varia- 
tions are  as  much  a  natural  feature  of  the  situation  in 
human  experience  as  in  the  topography  of  a  country. 
It  is  not  for  the  man  depressed  by  the  consciousness  of  his 
own  limitations  to  say  in  surly  fashion  to  the  Giver  of  all 
good  gifts,  great  and  small,  "  Here  is  thy  pound." 

There  comes  a  swift  process  of  judgment  upon  willful 
inaction.  "  Take  from  him  the  pound  and  give  it  to  him 
that  hath  ten  pounds.  To  him  that  hath  shall  be  given. 
From  him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken  away."  The  law 
is  self-executing,  the  process  of  judgment  is  automatic. 
The  man  who  buries  his  talent,  loses  it. 

How  many  fields  of  action  bear  their  somber  testimony 
to  this  principle  of  judgment!  The  unused  muscle  shrinks 
and  dwindles  until  in  place  of  a  useful  function  there  is 
only  a  rudimentary    remnant.     The  fish  in    the  Mammoth 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         407 

Cave  having  no  use  for  eyes  in  their  unlighted  habitat 
lose  the  power  of  sight.  The  man  who  disdains  the  minis- 
try of  beauty,  of  music,  of  reHgion,  becomes  atrophied 
in  those  powers  which  formerly  caused  him  to  react  under 
the  higher  forms  of  stimulus.  To  him  that  hath,  more  is 
given.  From  him  who  uses  not,  even  that  which  he  had  is 
taken  away.  No  man  need  run  toward  his  doom  in  order 
to  be  doomed.  Let  him  but  stand  still,  leaving  his  higher 
self  unworked,  and  by  that  very  sloth  he  is  hastening  swiftly 
to  his  doom. 

"The  risk  of  the  five- talent  man  is  his  conceit;  the  risk 
of  the  one-talent  man  is  his  hopelessness.  Why  should  this 
insignificant  bubble  on  the  great  stream  of  life  inflate 
itself  with  self-importance?  But  when  we  look  at  life 
religiously,  the  doctrine  of  the  trust  redeems  it  from  in- 
significance. You  have  not  much,  but  what  you  have  is 
essential  to  the  whole.  The  lighthouse-keeper  on  his  rock 
sits  in  solitude  and  watches  his  little  flame.  Why  does  he 
not  let  it  die  away  as  other  lights  in  the  distance  die  when 
the  night  comes  on?  Because  it  is  not  his  light.  He  is  its 
keeper,  not  its  owner.  The  great  Power  that  watches  that 
stormy  coast  has  set  him  there  and  he  must  be  true." 

The  inconspicuous  service  rendered  by  the  man  who  has 
received  but  a  single  pound  or  been  intrusted  with  a  single 
talent  is  lifted  at  once  into  a  higher  meaning  when  it  is 
viewed  as  a  trust.  And  it  is  a  tragic  thing  for  any  life  to 
suddenly  realize  that  having  been  commissioned  from  on 
high  to  perform  a  certain  inconsiderable  part  in  the  fulfill- 
ment of  a  vast,  far-reaching,  divine  plan,  he  has  thrown 
away  his  chance  of  honor  by  wrapping  his  modest  abilities 
in  the  concealment  of  a  napkin. 

If  there  is  in  the  commercial  world  "  the  law  of  diminish- 
ing returns,"  there  is  in  all  the  fields  of  human  interest 
"  the  law  of  increasing  returns."     When  a  man  has  amassed 


408  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

even  a  modest  amount  of  working  capital,  he  finds  as  he 
wisely  invests  it,  that  the  more  it  grows  the  more  easily 
and  rapidly  it  grows.  In  the  recovery  of  health  when  once 
the  crisis  is  passed,  surplus  energy  seems  to  be  funded  and 
the  old  vigor  comes  back  in  a  kind  of  geometrical  progres- 
sion. When  a  man  has  written  a  popular  book  which 
almost  everybody  reads,  quite  everybody  is  ready  to  read 
the  next  book  he  puts  out.  To  him  that  hath,  it  shall  be 
given. 

"  Wherefore  study  to  be  quiet  and  to  do  your  own  busi- 
ness and  to  work  with  your  own  hands  that  ye  may  walk 
honestly  and  have  lack  of  nothing."  To  have  tried  and 
failed  brings  no  disgrace  if  one's  best  powers  went  into  the 
high  effort.  But  never  to  have  tried  at  all  is  shame  un- 
speakable. "  Be  not  weary  in  well-doing,  for  in  due  season 
we  shall  reap  if  we  faint  not." 


LXVIII 
THE  ABUSE  OF  HIGH  PRIVILEGE 

Matt  21  :  33-46 

This  is  a  parable  of  warning  and  judgment.  Its  sharp 
finger  points  straight  at  certain  well-known  sins.  When 
it  was  originally  uttered  the  chief  priests  and  the  scribes 
felt  the  sting  of  its  application.  They  said,  "  He  means 
us."  They  would  have  laid  hands  on  Christ  forthwith 
had  they  not  ''  feared  the  people." 

In  an  unusual  degree  every  stroke  of  the  Master's  brush 
in  painting  this  picture  tells  its  own  story.  The  man  who 
planted  the  vineyard  represents  the  God  of  Israel.  The 
vineyard  itself  stood  for  the  religious  privileges  of  the 
Hebrew  nation.  The  husbandmen  were  the  Jews  them- 
selves. The  servants  sent  out  were  the  prophets.  The 
fruit  expected  by  the  lord  of  the  vineyard  was  that  loyal, 
obedient  service  which  should  grow  naturally  out  of  relig- 
ious privilege.  The  shameful  beating  and  wounding  of  the 
messengers  sent  was  the  rough  treatment  meted  out  by 
the  Jews  to  the  accredited  representatives  of  the  divine 
purpose.  "  Which  of  the  prophets  did  not  your  fathers 
persecute?  "  \rY^4^ 

The  son  sent  at  the  last  to  these  ungrateful  men  saw^ 
Christ.  "  When  the  fullness  of  time  came,  God  sent  his 
Son."  The  crucifixion,  already  casting  its  dark  shadow 
across  the  Master's  path,  was  indicated  in  that  the  wicked 
men  *'  cast  him  forth  out  of  the  vineyard  and  killed  him." 
They  refused  him  a  place  in  the  vineyard  of  their  religious 
system.    They   put   him   to   death   for  daring   to   enter   it 

409 


410  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

with  his  Messianic  claims.  The  final  giving  of  the  vine- 
yard to  others  foretells  the  choosing  of  the  Gentiles  for 
spiritual  leadership  and  the  lapse  of  the  Jews  from  the 
right  of  the  line  which  they  had  held  so  long  in  the  relig- 
ious advance  of  the  world. 

The  terms  are  now  defined  —  what  do  they  teach? 
While  the  parable  was  directed  first  at  the  unresponsive 
Jews  of  Christ's  time,  it  points  also  at  the  moral  delin- 
quency of  all  those  who  follow  in  their  train  repeating  their 
sins.  The  fateful,  tragic  history  of  the  Hebrew  nation  is 
the  story  of  many  a  religiously  reared  man  and  of  many 
a  favored  nation. 

Here  in  the  very  forefront  of  our  own  national  existence 
stands  a  rich  vineyard  of  high  religious  privilege!  The 
Lord  himself  has  "  planted  a  vineyard  and  set  a  hedge 
about  it  and  digged  a  winepress  in  it  and  built  a  tower." 
The  detailed  preparation  suggests  the  contrast  between 
the  painstaking,  generous  spirit  of  the  lord  of  the  vine- 
yard and  the  ungrateful,  rebellious  conduct  of  the  husband- 
men. God  has  put  within  our  reach  all  the  necessary 
means  for  a  rich  return  of  spiritual  values. 

If  the  awful  penalty  pronounced  in  this  passage  fell  upon 
the  unfaithful  Hebrews,  "  How  shall  we  escape  if  we  neg- 
lect so  great  salvation?  "  The  Jews  had  simply  the  Old 
Testament  — we  have  the  Old  and  the  New  in  all  their 
foretelling  and  fulfilling  completeness.  The  Jews  saw 
what  Christ  had  been  doing  for  three  years  —  we  see  what 
he  has  been  doing  for  nineteen  hundred  years.  They 
walked  within  "  the  shadow  :of  things  to  come  "  — we  are 
enjoying  the  good  things.  Think  not  that  those  men  who 
refused  the  claim  of  the  Lord  of  the  vineyard  by  rejecting 
Christ  were  sinners  above  all  men!  Except  we  repent,  we 
shall  all  likewise  perish. 

The  lord  is  patient  —  he  offers  these  privileges  and  then 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         411 

goes  "into  another  country  for  a  long  time."  There  is  a 
period  of  forbearance  and  suspended  judgment.  Pay  day 
does  not  always  come  the  following  Saturday  night  nor  are 
the  books  of  the  Recording  Angel  balanced  on  the  first  day 
of  each  month. 

But  patience  does  not  mean  indifference.  The  fact 
that  this  vineyard  of  privilege  was  intrusted  to  certain 
husbandmen  is  not  forgotten.  The  lord  will  inquire  strictly 
into  the  use  made  of  it.  "  At  the  season  he  sent  unto  the 
husbandmen  a  servant  that  they  should  give  him  of  the 
fruit  of  the  vineyard."  Then  another!  Then  yet  another! 
Repeated  demands  were  made  for  that  which  was  due. 
Religious  privileges  are  meant  to  produce  righteousness, 
unselfish  service,  ripe  and  generous  returns  in  all  good 
living.  The  succession  of  messengers  each  one  calling  for 
"  Fruit "  indicates  the  divine  insistence  upon  a  proper 
return  for  the  effort  made  on  our  behalf.  Privilege  spells 
responsibility. 

The  parable  indicates  in  effective  phrase  how  men  are 
treating  their  opportunities.  Here  is  a  man  who  is  angry 
because  he  is  asked  to  give  to  some  charity  —  he  "  beats  " 
the  request!  Here  is  one  who  is  indignant  that  any  one 
should  speak  to  him  personally  about  the  duty  of  re- 
pentance and  faith  toward  God  —  he  handles  that  appeal 
"shamefully"  and  sends  it  away  "empty."  Here  is 
another  who,  closely  urged  to  enter  upon  the  life  of  Chris- 
tian devotion,  "  wounds  "  the  one  who  made  the  appeal. 
He  utters  an  ill-bred  refusal  and  "  casts  him  forth."  The 
hardness  of  men's  hearts  becomes  perplexing  —  "The  Lord 
of  the  vineyard  says,  What  shall  I  do?  " 

He  decides  to  make  his  supreme  appeal  —  "I  will  send 
my  beloved  Son."  One  comes  who  can  say,  "  He  that 
hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father."  He  can  say,  "  No 
man  knoweth  the  Father  but  the  Son  and  he  to  whom  the 


412  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

Son  will  reveal  him."  This  supreme  manifestation  of  the 
divine  concern  on  man's  behalf  will  surely  touch  the  human 
heart.  It  was  a  natural  expectation  which  uttered  itself  — 
"  They  will  reverence  my  Son." 

But  moral  disobedience  had  become  chronic.  Hardening 
their  hearts  against  the  minor  appeals  of  duty  had  cal- 
loused the  whole  moral  nature.  The  parable  records  "  an 
ascending  scale  of  atrocities,"  for  wrongdoing  is  cumulative. 
When  a  man  does  one  evil  deed,  it  becomes  easier  to  do 
the  next  one.  When  a  boy  has  stolen  a  nickel,  he  has 
removed  one  of  the  barriers  between  his  conscience  and  the 
act  of  stealing  the  larger  sum.  When  a  soul  resists  the 
appeal  of  the  Spirit  once,  he  may  be  sure  that  the  next 
appeal  will  not  be  so  strongly  felt. 

There  is  a  certain  fearful  fascination  about  the  psychology 
of  one's  course  in  wrongdoing.  There  is  a  certain  enlarge- 
ment of  dominant  traits  and  a  tendency  to  fixity  in  char- 
acter. The  harsh  treatment  given  the  subordinate  servants 
paved  the  way  for  the  ultimate  slaying  of  the  Son.  The 
wicked  husbandmen  had  been  doing  wrong  until  murder 
itself  seemed  natural  and  easy. 

We  are  amazed  at  the  shortsighted,  impotent  chain  of 
reasoning  into  which  those  men  fell  in  that  m.oral  blindness 
induced  by  persistent  disobedience.  They  said  when  the 
lord  of  the  vineyard  sent  to  them  his  son:  "This  is  the 
heir!  Let  us  kill  him  that  the  inheritance  may  be  ours. 
And  they  cast  him  forth  out  of  the  vineyard  and  killed 
him."  ^ 

There  are  men  who  actually  think  that  when  they  have 
numbed  the  spiritual  sense  by  disobedience  or  disuse, 
they  are  entirely  relieved  from  the  disturbing  sense  of  re- 
ligious obligation.  If  they  have  silenced  for  an  hour  the 
voice  of  the  Spirit,  they  feel  quite  free  to  go  cheerily  about 
their  affairs  in  open  ungodliness.     They  vainly  im.agine  that 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE   KINGDOM         413 

if  the  Bibles  were  all  burned  up,  and  all  preaching  of  the 
gospel  were  stopped,  they  would  feel  serene. 

But  back  of  all  Bibles  and  sermons,  back  of  all  personal 
entreaty  and  spiritual  appeal,  is  God  himself  who  has  to 
be  reckoned  with.  However  we  may  temporarily  hide  our 
heads  in  the  sand,  we  must  finally  stand  before  him  to  give 
an  account  of  the  deeds  done  in  the  body  whether  they  be 
good  or  bad.  The  Lord  of  the  vineyard  will  show  what 
fruit  we  have  returned  him  by  our  use  of  the  privilege 
accorded  us.  He  will  make  manifest  the  attitude  we  have 
taken  toward  his  Son.  And  if  we  have  indeed  "  cast  him 
out  "  of  our  lives,  we  shall  find  ourselves  cast  out. 

The  problem  of  privilege  along  many  lines  is  a  vital 
one.  The  wealth  of  the  world  is  in  the  hands  of  a  small 
percentage  of  the  entire  population.  How  will  they  treat 
the  appeal  coming  up  from  the  plain  people  and  coming 
down  from  God  who  is  no  respecter  of  persons?  How  will 
they  meet  the  demands  for  a  more  democratic  spirit  in  the 
control  of  the  great  industries,  for  a  more  equitable  division 
of  the  good  things  created  by  the  joint  efforts  of  brain  and 
brawn,  for  a  more  intelligent  and  conscientious  regard  for 
the  human  values  at  stake  in  this  huge  business  of  produc- 
ing wealth? 

If  these  men  of  privilege  "  beat  "  that  appeal,  if  they 
"  treat  shamefully "  the  gropings  of  the  common  people 
after  a  life  more  worthy  to  be  called  human,  if  they  "  cast 
out "  the  protests  made  against  conditions  intolerable  to 
the  awakened  self-respect  of  the  toilers,  they  may  know  of 
a  surety  that  they  will  hasten  the  day  when  their  rich 
vineyard  of  privilege  will  be  "  taken  away  from  them " 
and  be  given  over  to  husbandmen  possessed  of  that  social 
habit  of  mind  which  will  render  the  lord  of  the  finer  values 
the  fruit  he  demands. 

The   cultured    men   and   women   who   have   enjoyed    the 


414  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

benefits  of  college  training  stand  in  a  fair  garden  of  privilege 
What  will  they  do  with  it?  If  the  fortunate  individual 
stands  aloof  from  the  exacting  demands  of  the  common  life, 
pluming  himself  on  his  own  admirable  qualities  and  scorn- 
ing the  "  unwashed,"  let  him  know  that  he  too  is  in  peril. 
The  debt  of  privilege,  whatever  form  it  may  take,  must  be 
paid  in  coin  of  the  realm.  And  the  only  coin  acceptable 
in  the  discharge  of  that  obligation  is  to  be  found  in  those 
forms  of  service  where  the  man  gives  not  his  gift  alone 
but  himself  as  well. 

This  principle  lay  at  the  foundation  of  the  life  of  Jesus. 
He  was  rich  in  personal  endowment  and  in  high  privilege, 
yet  for  our  sakes  he  became  poor  that  by  his  self-sacrifice 
many  might  be  enriched.  Knowing  that  the  Father  had 
given  all  things  into  his  hands,  he  girded  himself  and  washed 
the  disciples'  feet.  This  underlying  principle  of  spiritual 
advance  is  a  stone  which  many  builders  have  rejected,  but 
in  the  rightly  ordered  life  it  becomes  the  head  of  the 
corner. 


LXIX 

THE  DOOM  OF  THE  UNFIT 

Matt.  22  : 1-14 

Here  in  these  chapters  we  find  a  succession  of  "  Parables 
of  Judgment."  The  fateful  events  which  prefaced  Calvary- 
were  near.  The  blindness  of  the  Jewish  people  which  led 
them  to  reject  those  principles  which  have  become  the 
head  of  the  corner  in  the  spiritual  structure  they  were  set 
to  rear  became  more  and  more  evident.  And  these  suc- 
cessive warnings  are  like  the  solemn  striking  of  the  clock  at 
midnight  when  Macbeth  was  plotting  the  murder  of  the 
king  —  a  warning  which  that  guilty  man  also  failed  to 
heed. 

The  divine  offer  of  mercy  was  like  the  action  of  a  king 
who  made  a  marriage  feast  for  his  son.  He  sent  his  ser- 
vants to  call  them  that  were  bidden  to  the  marriage,  but 
the  invited  guests  insolently  refused  to  come.  He  sent  yet 
other  servants,  humbling  himself  to  the  point  of  extolling 
the  quality  of  the  entertainment  provided  that  reluctant 
guests  might  be  induced  to  come.  "  Oxen  and  fatlings  are 
killed  and  all  things  are  ready  —  come  to  the  marriage 
feast." 

"  But  they  made  light  of  it "  —  they  treated  it  as  a 
matter  of  no  consequence.  One  man  busied  himself  on 
his  farm  and  another  in  his  store  and  others  laid  hold  of 
the  servants  who  had  brought  the  added  summons  and 
treated  them  shamefully.  The  preoccupation  with  lesser 
things  blinded  these  men  to  the  supreme  importance  of  the 
one  vital  interest  in  that  situation. 

415 


416  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

"As  it  was  then,  so  it  is  now.  One  man  goes  to  his 
farm,  preoccupied  by  his  daily  care.  Another  is  the  slave 
of  his  business.  A  third  finds  the  king's  summons  incon- 
sistent with  his  own  mean  desires  and  will  not  even  listen 
to  the  messenger  —  he  lays  hold  on  him  and  kills  him. 
The  preoccupation  of  the  mind  by  routine,  the  overwhelm- 
ing pressure  of  one's  business  and  the  conscious  inconsis- 
tency of  one's  own  way  of  life  with  the  way  of  God  —  these 
three  habits  of  mind  still  make  light  of  the  king's  message. 
Possession  goes  its  way  to  its  farm;  commercialism  hides 
among  its  merchandise  and  conscious  unworthiness  hates 
the  very  reminder  of  God's  intention  and  strikes  God's 
messengers  dead  at  its  feet." 

This  insolent  action  was  resented  by  the  king.  He 
"  was  wroth.  He  sent  his  armies  and  destroyed  those 
murderers  and  burned  their  city."  The  parable  of  warning 
was  addressed  primarily  to  the  Jews  and  as  the  solemn 
words  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  Messiah  they  were  rejecting, 
they  might  have  heard  the  mutterings  of  a  coming  storm 
of  divine  judgment.  The  overthrow  of  Jerusalem,  with 
all  the  attendant  horrors  of  outrage,  slaughter  and  burning, 
was  already  on  the  v/ay.  Truly  his  blood  was  to  be  upon 
them  and  upon  their  children! 

The  teaching  of  the  parable  thus  far  runs  parallel  with 
the  similar  parable  of  "  The  Great  Supper,"  recorded  in 
Luke.  There  also  the  invited  guests  showed  themselves 
heedless  of  the  generous  good  will  of  the  One  who  had  bid- 
den them  to  a  feast.  "  They  all  with  one  consent  began  to 
make  excuse,"  one  begging  off  that  he  might  view  a  piece 
of  land  he  had  bought,  another  pleading  an  engagement 
to  try  a  yoke  of  oxen  he  had  purchased  and  a  third  insisting 
that  his  wife  had  prior  claims  upon  his  time,  preventing 
his  attendance  at  the  feast. 

But  at  this  point  this  parable  takes  another  direction  and 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         417 

introduces  another  aspect  of  the  great  truth  Jesus  was 
teaching  that  privileged  nation.  **  They  that  were  bid- 
den were  not  worthy "  —  therefore  the  king  sent  his 
servants  into  the  highways,  directing  them  to  bring  all 
they  found  without  regard  to  their  moral  antecedents, 
"  both  bad  and  good,"  that  the  wedding  might  be  furnished 
with  guests. 

There  was  a  generous  response  to  this  sweeping  invita- 
tion. When  the  king  came  in,  the  place  was  *'  filled  with 
guests."  But  "he  saw  there  a  man  who  had  not  on  a 
wedding  garment."  This  man  had  been  willing  to  come  but 
was  unwilling  to  make  himself  fit  to  remain  when  he  got 
there.  "  Promiscuous  affair,"  he  said  to  himself  in  act  if 
not  in  word.  "  Hardly  worth  while  to  don  my  best." 
He  came  "as  he  was,"  holding  cheaply  the  invitation 
received. 

We  need  not  resort  to  any  pleasant  fiction  about  the 
custom  of  Oriental  monarchs  in  furnishing  every  invited 
guest  with  an  appropriate  garment  when  he  is  to  appear  at 
court.  Let  that  be  as  it  may  —  it  is  not  a  rigid  rule!  The 
point  brought  out  in  the  parable  is  that  a  man  may  appear 
to  accept  an  invitation  and  yet  offer  an  open  insult  to  his 
host  by  his  unwillingness  to  make  that  appropriate  prepara- 
tion for  the  event  which  lies  within  his  power. 

There  are  many  who  are  eager  for  opportunities  of  all 
sorts,  but  they  lack  the  readiness  to  make  themselves 
competent  and  worthy  to  enjoy  the  opportunities  when  they 
come.  Here  is  a  family  in  a  narrow  tenement  clamoring 
for  a  bath  tub  and  then  using  it  presently  as  a  convenient 
place  to  dump  the  next  month's  coal!  Here  are  workmen 
loudly  insistent  on  shorter  hours  of  employ  and  then  spend- 
ing the  added  leisure  in  the  rum  shop,  wasting  their  wages 
and  lessening  their  efficiency  for  further  employ!  Here  is 
a  labor  organization  peremptorily  claiming  recognition  and 


418  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

participation  in  the  management  of  a  business  and  then 
once  accorded  those  privileges  showing  itself  unreasonable 
and  tyrannical  in  its  ill-founded  demands!  "  Bidden  but 
unworthy."  Reaching  for  opportunities  but  unwilling  to 
show  themselves  competent  to  rightly  use  them. 

The  fault  is  not  confined  to  one  social  class.  Here  are 
those  whose  material  affluence  and  intellectual  advantages 
easily  entitle  them  to  seats  at  the  feast  of  life,  but  they  fail 
to  robe  their  minds  and  hearts  in  those  high  qualities  which 
would  make  them  fit  to  remain  in  that  place  of  privilege! 
Here  are  those  who  by  birth  and  breeding  enjoy  a  social 
position  which  opens  before  them  many  a  door  of  splendid 
opportunity,  yet  they  stalk  in  without  gracious  demeanor, 
lacking  that  fine  consideration  for  the  feelings  of  others 
which  is  the  wedding  garment  of  all  human  contact. 

The  right  to  any  pleasure  or  privilege  has  to  be  earned 
by  an  acquired  fitness  to  enjoy  it.  The  invitation  in  the 
parable  was  to  a  wedding  feast  and  the  teaching  may  not 
unfitly  be  applied  to  the  sacred  joys  of  wedded  life.  The 
parable  says  to  every  young  man,  "  Earn  your  right  to  be 
married."  Earn  it  physically!  No  young  fellow  has  the 
right  to  bring  the  taint  of  vicious  disease  or  the  scars  of 
debauchery  to  mate  on  equal  terms  with  purity  and  honor. 
Whether  the  girl  knows  it  or  not,  he  will  know  —  and  if 
he  is  offering  her  ashes  for  beauty,  he  will  feel  like  a  whelp. 
He  will  stand  at  the  marriage  altar  with  a  sense  of  shame, 
condemned  by  his  own  sense  of  honor.  Earn  your  right 
to  mate  on  equal  terms  with  honor  and  purity. 

Earn  your  right  to  be  married  financially!  If  the  girl 
has  sense  enough  to  be  worth  marrying  at  all,  she  does  not 
expect  to  begin  her  housekeeping  on  the  scale  where  her 
mother  leaves  off,  or  to  have  you  as  prosperous  at  the 
beginning  of  your  career  as  her  father  is  at  the  end  of  his. 
She  is  ready  to  share  in  the  struggle  and  to  enjoy  the  sue- 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         419 

cess  which  will  come  all  the  more  because  she  helped  win 
it.  Even  so,  it  is  unmanly  to  take  a  girl  out  of  her  father's 
home  unless  you  have  earned  a  reasonable  prospect  of  being 
able  to  provide  for  her  comfort. 

Earn  your  right  to  be  married  morally!  Blessed  be  God 
for  the  faith  and  hope  and  love  of  those  good  women  who 
cling  to  unworthy  men  and  finally  lift  them  up  by  the 
sheer  strength  of  their  unselfish  devotion!  But  it  is  a 
shabby  trick  to  willingly  impose  that  burden  upon  the 
heart  of  any  woman.  Offer  the  girl,  not  a  victim  to  be 
reformed,  but  a  husband  to  be  enjoyed.  Offer  her,  not  a 
problem,  but  a  man.  When  you  make  bold  to  sit  down  at 
the  feast  of  married  life,  see  to  it  that  in  your  own  pre- 
paredness of  body,  brain  and  heart  you  are  robed  in  wed- 
ding raiment. 

Marriage  is  the  Matterhorn  in  the  mountain  range  of 
earthly  privilege.  It  is  for  the  elect  to  show  those  high 
qualities  which  enable  them  to  make  the  ascent  and  to  stand 
unabashed  at  the  pinnacle  of  earthly  happiness.  It  is  for 
them  to  be  arrayed  in  those  moods  which  serve  to  lift 
that  whole  sacred  interest  to  the  highest  level  of  thought 
and  feeling.  Then  the  wedding  feast  will  be  rightly  en- 
joyed by  those  who  are  rightly  arrayed  in  the  purposes 
and  methods  which  make  for  happiness  and  well-being  in 
the  most  fundamental  of  all  human  institutions. 

There  are  men  and  women  who  jauntily  take  their 
places  at  the  Lord's  table  without  that  inward  and  per- 
sonal preparation  which  alone  entitles  us  to  sit  at  that 
board  of  privilege.  The  invitations  to  the  Lord's  table 
are  issued,  not  to  angels,  but  to  human  beings;  not  to 
perfection,  but  to  the  sense  of  need.  Even  so,  unless  we 
"  do  truly  and  earnestly  repent  of  our  sins "  (to  quote 
from  the  Prayer-Book)  "  and  are  in  love  and  charity  with 
our  neighbors,  and  intend  to  lead  a  new  life,  following  the 


420  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

commandments  of  God  and  walking  in  his  holy  ways," 
we  had  best  make  further  preparation  for  our  appearance 
at  that  Communion  Feast  by  seeking  that  inward  fitness 
here  symbolized  by  the  wedding  garment. 

"  Many  are  called  but  few  are  chosen."  The  words 
have  an  ominous  sound.  But  the  warning  is  one  to  be 
heard  and  heeded.  Interpret  them  as  we  may  in  our 
light-hearted  optimism,  it  is  impossible  to  make  "  few " 
mean  everybody  or  even  an  overwhelming  majority.  Let 
him  that  thinketh  he  has  succeeded  take  heed  lest  he  fail! 


LXX 
A  DAY  OF  QUESTIONS 

Matt.  22  :  15-22 

The  Master  always  carried  an  interrogation  point  with 
him.  It  was  an  effective  weapon  to  puncture  the  swollen 
bags  of  conceit  and  pretense  he  encountered.  When  the 
chief  priests  pressed  him  for  his  credentials,  saying,  "  By 
what  authority  doest  thou  these  things?  "  he  silenced  them 
with  a  shrewd  question.  "  I  also  will  ask  you  one  ques- 
tion —  The  baptism  of  John,  was  it  from  heaven  or  of 
men? "  They  were  afraid  to  say  "  of  heaven "  lest  he 
should  reply,  "  Why,  then,  did  ye  not  believe  on  him?  " 
They  were  afraid  to  say,  "  of  men,"  because  they  feared 
the  people  who  counted  John  as  a  prophet.  They  im- 
mediately slunk  away  in  defeat. 

Jesus  first  appears  before  us  at  the  age  of  twelve  "  sit- 
ting in  the  midst  of  the  doctors,  hearing  them  and  asking 
them  questions.  And  all  that  heard  him  were  astonished 
at  his  understanding  and  his  answers."  He  learned  to  use 
the  interrogation  point  in  early  life. 

And  he  has  been  asking  questions  ever  since.  W^hat 
wide  and  effective  use  he  made  of  this  form  of  teaching! 
"  Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of  thistles?  " 
"  What  man  is  there  of  you  whom  if  his  son  ask  bread  will 
he  give  him  a  stone?  "  "  Whom  do  men  say  that  I  am?  " 
"Why  callest  thou  me  good?"  "If  ye  love  them  that 
love  you,  what  do  ye  more  than  others?  "  "  Have  I  been 
so  long  time  with  you  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known  me?  " 
"  Can    the   children   of    the   bride-chamber   fast   while    the 

421 


422  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

bridegroom  is  with  them?  "  "  Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son 
of  God?  "  "  Ought  not  Christ  to  have  suffered  these 
things  and  to  enter  into  his  glory?  " 

"  He  knew  the  power  of  the  question  to  open  up  the  mind 
to  a  fresh  consideration  of  the  truth.  He  knew  the  power 
of  the  question  to  show  the  utter  absurdity  of  a  suggested 
alternative  to  some  proposition.  He  knew  the  power  of 
a  question  to  make  vivid  some  truth  which  might  have  less 
edge  if  uttered  in  a  direct  affirmative. 

He  also  encountered  a  perfect  fire  of  questions.  His 
enemies  knew  the  ugly  power  of  an  insinuating  question 
which  intimates  what  the  questioner  dares  not  state  openly. 
His  enemies  used  those  questions  which  were  meant  to  put 
him  in  an  awkward  dilemma.  When  a  political  speaker 
had  been  repeatedly  interrupted  by  a  questioner  from  the 
crowd  who  always  demanded  a  plain  "Yes,"  or "  No," 
insisting  that  any  honest  man  could  answer  a  straight 
question  one  way  or  the  other,  he  retorted  upon  the  dis- 
turber in  this  effective  fashion:  "  I  will  ask  you  a  straight 
question.  Answer  me,  Yes  or  No.  Have  you  stopped 
beating  your  wife  yet?  " 

Some  of  the  finest  passages  in  Christ's  teaching  were 
called  out  by  questions.  The  lawyer  asked,  "  Who  is  my 
neighbor?  "  and  the  Parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan  was 
the  Master's  reply.  The  people  asked,  "  Art  thou  He  that 
should  come? "  and  that  effective  list  of  achievements 
came  in  his  answer — "The  blind  receive  sight,  the  deaf 
hear,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  lame  walk  and  the  poor 
have  good  tidings  preached  to  them."  Peter  asked  him, 
"  Lord,  how  often  shall  my  brother  sin  against  me  and  I 
forgive  him?  "  and  the  Master  answered  in  that  passage 
touching  forgiveness  which  has  become  a  classic  on  the 
quality  of  mercy. 

The  Master  went  straight  along  both  asking  and  answer- 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         423 

ing  questions.  The  child  coming  into  the  world  feeling 
that  he  has  everything  to  learn  keeps  up  a  steady  and- 
sometimes  wearisome  flow  of  inquiry.  The  Master,  pos- 
sessed of  the  simple,  childlike  quality  of  mind  which  moves 
straight  for  the  point,  understood  and  valued  the  power  of 
^Jhe  question  in  the  furtherance  of  knowledge. 

We  find  him  in  this  passage  within  the  Temple  inclosure 
with  his  back  to  the  wall  contending  with  his  enemies. 
The  various  parties  at  Jerusalem,  the  Herodians,  the 
Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees,  were  all  arrayed  against  him 
in  hostile  mood.  The  Pharisees  with  the  Herodians  "  took 
counsel  how  they  might  ensnare  him  in  his  talk."  They 
said  to  him  in  fawning  insincerity,  "  Master,  we  know  that 
thou  art  true  and  teachest  the  way  of  God  in  truth  and 
regardest  not  the  person  of  men.  Tell  us.  Is  it  lawful 
to  give  tribute  to  Caesar  or  not?  " 

They  were  seeking  in  wily  fashion  to  impale  him  upon 
one  of  the  two  horns  of  a  dilemma.  If  he  forbade  tribute 
to  Caesar  the  Herodians  as  supporters  of  the  existing  regime 
would  accuse  him  to  the  Roman  authorities  as  one  who 
incited  rebellion.  They  would  thus  array  the  government 
against  him.  If  he  recommended  the  payment  of  the  hated 
tribute  to  the  Roman  government,  the  Pharisees  as  repre- 
sentatives of  the  rabid  Jewish  party  would  array  the  people 
against  him  as  a  disloyal  son  of  Abraham. 

How  wise  he  was!  He  **  perceived  their  wickedness." 
He  said  to  them:  "Why  tempt  ye  me,  ye  hypocrites? 
Show  me  the  tribute  money."  When  they  produced  a 
penny  he  said,  "  Whose  image  and  superscription? " 
They  said,  "  Caesar's.  "  Then  he  said  to  them,  "  Render 
unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's  and  unto  God  the 
things  that  are  God's."  And  the  wise  men  in  Church  and 
State  ponder  the  validity  of  that  statement  of  principle 
to  this  hour. 


424  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

Here  is  the  same  principle  stated  by  one  who  closely 
followed  Jesus!  "Tribute  to  whom  tribute  is  due;  cus- 
tom to  whom  custom;  fear  to  whom  fear;  honor  to  whom 
honor."  There  are  duties  perpendicular  and  duties  hori- 
zontal and  one  duty  differeth  from  another  duty  in  its 
direction. 

"  Whose  image  and  superscription?  Only  one  answer 
was  possible  —  the  tokens  on  the  coin  showed  what  gave 
it  value  and  made  it  current,"  says  A.  E.  Dunning.  "  Am- 
plify these  words  of  Jesus.  You  use  that  coin  to  buy 
what  you  want.  You  accept  the  protection  and  enjoy  the 
advantages  of  the  civil  government.  Then  pay  your  share 
of  the  cost.     This  is  your  plain  duty. 

"  Here,  then,  is  our  lesson:  we  must  find  out  what  our 
obligations  are  and  to  whom  they  are  owed,  then  meet 
them  as  honest  men.  Are  you  a  partner  in  the  civil  state? 
Do  you  walk  its  streets,  ride  over  its  roads,  live  safely 
under  the  protection  of  its  police,  do  business  under  its 
laws?  Then  pay  your  share  as  an  honest  partner,  both 
in  money  and  service.  Treat  your  church  in  the  same 
way." 

Then  came  the  third  party,  the  Sadducees,  with  another 
type  of  question  that  they  might  catch  him  in  his  talk. 
The  Sadducees  represented  a  violent  reaction  against  the 
material  conception  of  the  future  life  which  was  current. 
They  had  reacted  so  far  by  raising  social  and  physical 
objections  regarding  the  hope  of  a  future  life  as  to  deny 
the  claim  of  immortality  altogether. 

The  Pharisees  so  far  shared  in  the  material  conception 
of  the  future  world  as  to  believe  that  the  faithful  would 
have  wives  and  children  in  Paradise  —  an  idea  which  the 
Moslems  share  to  this  day.  And  in  opposition  to  this  view 
the  Sadducees  brought  forward  a  fictitious  case  where  a 
man    married    a   wife    and    upon    his   decease    his    brother 


THE   PARABLES   OF  THE   KINGDOM         425 

married  her,  and  upon  the  decease  of  the  second  yet 
another  brother  married  her  until  every  one  of  the  seven 
brothers  in  that  family  had  been  married  to  this  one  woman. 
The  Sadducees  brought  this  question  as  a  kind  of  poser  — 
"In  the  resurrection  whose  wife  shall  she  be?  " 

The  Master  had  a  way  of  cutting  the  knot  of  any 
quibble  rather  than  seeking  patiently  to  disentangle  confu- 
sion deliberately  created  by  mental  perversity.  He  did 
not  weigh  the  respective  claims  of  these  seven  men  who  in 
the  fairy  tale  brought  by  the  objectors  had  all  sustained 
marital  relations  with  the  same  woman.  "  Ye  do  err," 
he  said,  "  not  knowing  the  Scriptures  nor  the  power  of 
God!  In  the  resurrection  they  neither  marry  nor  are  given 
in  marriage  but  are  as  the  angels  of  God." 

The  point  is  that  the  physical  necessity  for  such  rela- 
tions as  are  sustained  in  the  married  state  for  the  perpetua- 
tion of  the  race  do  not  exist  in  the  unseen  world.  There 
being  no  more  death  there  is  no  further  need  of  the  renewal 
of  the  race  through  the  relations  honorably  sustained  in 
marriage.  The  statement  of  Jesus  does  not  imply  that 
human  affections  cultivated  and  fostered  by  wedded  life 
on  earth  may  not  have  their  perfecting  in  the  future  world. 

The  Sadducees  in  undertaking  to  ridicule  the  doctrine 
of  a  future  life  and  to  deny  the  validity  of  such  a  hope  by 
suggesting  imaginary  complications  arising  out  of  earthly 
relationships  were  showing  that  they  neither  understood 
aright  the  prophetic  inheritance  of  their  own  race  nor  ap- 
preciated the  power  of  God  who  is  able  to  order  the  rela- 
tions of  that  future  world  in  such  manner  as  to  satisfy 
all  the  legitimate  expectations  of  both  intelligence  and 
affection.  ''Ye  do  err  not  knowing  the  Scriptures  nor  the 
power  of  God." 

"  Have  ye  not  read  that  God  said,  I  am  the  God  of 
Abraham  and  the  God  of  Isaac  and  the  God  of  Jacob." 


426  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

This  was  one  of  the  commonplaces  of  their  religious  speech. 
Jesus  indicated  that  in  this  oft-quoted  phrase  they  were 
steadily  testifying  to  their  faith  in  a  future  life.  When 
those  words  were  uttered  by  the  Lord,  the  three  men  named 
had  been  a  long  time  dead.  Now  God  is  not  the  God  of 
dead  persons  but  of  living  persons.  The  affirmation  which 
the  Sadducees  accepted  and  cited  carried  with  it  therefore 
the  implication  that  Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob  were 
still  in  existence. 

Science  makes  its  advance  by  asking  questions.  It 
asks  for  knowledge  touching  some  problem  and  makes  a 
tentative  reply  to  its  own  question  in  what  is  called  "  a 
hypothesis."  It  then  seeks  by  competent  investigation  to 
either  verify  or  discredit  that  hypothesis  by  positive 
knowledge.  This  way  progress  lies.  Religion  may  utilize 
the  same  inductive  method,  for  the  Master  of  men  and  of 
methods  went  about  "  asking  and  answering  questions." 


LXXI 
THE  NEED  OF  RESERVE  FORCE         j 
Matt.  25  : 1-13 

There  is  a  tender  pathos  in  this  story.  The  scene  is  a 
wedding  feast,  bright  and  joyous.  The  interest  centers  in 
ten  maidens,  chosen,  as  bridesmaids  commonly  are,  because 
they  were  young  and  fair.  And  to  that  situation  came  the 
straight  call  of  duty. 

When  it  came  some  were  prepared  for  it  —  "they  that 
were  ready  went  in  to  the  marriage."  Some  were  unpre- 
pared and  because  of  that  fact  they  were  shut  out.  The 
ten  maidens  had  all  made  some  preparation.  They  were 
present  at  the  place  where  they  were  to  render  a  certain 
service.  They  had  on  their  wedding  garments.  They  had 
brought  their  lamps  with  them  and  had  them  lighted. 
But  five  of  them  had  not  made  sufficient  preparation. 
They  had  not  provided  an  adequate  supply  of  oil  in  their 
vessels  to  replenish  their  lamps  and  when  the  cry  came  at 
midnight:  "  Behold  the  bridegroom!  Go  ye  out  to  meet 
him,"  their  lamps  were  already  going  out. 

The  extra  supply  of  oil  which  the  wise  had  provided 
in  the  vessels  they  carried  with  them  stands  for  that  re- 
serve force  in  the  inner  life  rendering  it  competent  and 
adequate  for  the  calls  of  duty  which  ring  out  along  life's 
pathway.  The  testing  which  goes  on  under  these  succes- 
sive calls  of  obligation  draws  the  line  of  demarcation  be- 
tween the  wise  and  the  foolish.  The  wise  have  taken 
pains  to  develop  fitness  and  adequacy  for  the  tasks  await^ 
ing  them;    the  foolish  have  made  no  such  provision.     And 

427 


428  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

as  a  result  some  go  in  to  the  feast  of  life  and  some  are  shut 
out. 

The  call  of  duty  is  an  echo  of  the  voice  of  God.  Moral 
obligations  are  not  mere  conventional  notions  which  have 
somehow  gotten  into  our  heads.  They  are  not  solely 
matters  between  a  man  and  his  fellows.  They  have  their 
sanctions  on  high,  reaching  up  into  that  moral  order  whose 
line  is  gone  out  into  all  the  world.  They  are  joints  and 
sections  of  an  eternal  purpose  set  for  the  achievement  of 
definite  moral  ends.  It  was  no  mere  fleeting  occasion  which 
here  uttered  the  summons  —  it  was  the  voice  of  the  Eter- 
nal, saying  to  those  who  had  been  appointed  to  a  definite 
service:    "  Behold  your  duty!     Go  ye  out  and  meet  it." 

The  chief  difference  in  people  lies  not  in  the  fact  that 
some  are  sincere  and  some  are  hypocrites.  The  conscious, 
deliberate  hypocrites  are  few.  The  main  difference  lies 
in  the  fact  that  some  people  take  the  call  of  duty  seriously 
and  devote  themselves  in  thoroughgoing  fashion  to  the  task 
of  becoming  adequate  to  its  demands,  while  others  take  it 
lightly  and  carelessly.  The  foolish  virgins  did  nothing 
wicked  —  they  did  not  stone  the  wedding  procession  or 
insult  the  bride  or  steal  the  refreshments.  They  sim.ply 
failed  to  make  adequate  preparation  for  doing  their  duty  — 
they  were  sent  to  be  light-bearers,  but  when  the  hour 
struck  their  lamps  were  dark  for  lack  of  oil. 

The  highest  duty  in  life  is  to  fit  one's  self  to  meet  the 
legitimate  demands  of  any  situation  where  he  may  be 
called  to  act.  The  unstudied,  generous  impulse  may  flame 
up  and  burn  beautifully  for  an  hour,  but  its  lamp  is  liable 
to  go  out  for  lack  of  sustaining  oil.  It  is  only  well- 
grounded  character,  rooted  in  principle  and  conviction, 
which  can  be  relied  upon  to  burn  until  midnight  —  and 
if  need  be  on  through  the  small,  hard  hours  until  day  dawns. 

They  used  to  say  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  "  He  does 


THE   PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM         429 

his  duty  as  naturally  as  a  horse  eats  oats."  It  was  a 
splendid  tribute.  The  habit  of  fidelity  gave  to  his  very 
features  the  look  of  command  and  to  his  words  the  fine 
accent  of  authority.  But  to  show  that  high  quality  the 
Duke  had  to  begin  his  work  of  preparation  a  long  time 
before  he  reached  the  war  which  culminated  in  victory  at 
Waterloo.  He  had  to  have  his  lamp  of  moral  energy 
fed  perpetually  from  a  source  unfailing. 

The  largest  lamp  soon  burns  out  unless  its  bowl  is  re- 
plenished. The  strongest  life  is  doomed  to  failure  unless 
it  be  restocked  with  motive,  stimulus  and  spiritual  stamina 
during  those  long,  hard  hours  which  lead  up  to  some  mid- 
night in  the  soul.  The  ancient  prophet  in  his  vision  saw 
a  golden  lamp  burning  brightly  through  all  the  long  hours 
because  on  either  side  of  it  there  was  a  live  olive  tree 
feeding  its  oil  steadily  into  the  bowl  of  the  lamp.  In 
like  fashion  the  man  who  would  show  evenly  Christ's  spirit 
and  do  steadily  Christ's  work  and  advance  steadily  in 
Christ's  Kingdom,  must  stand  in  such  relation  to  the  living 
God  as  to  have  his  inner  life  perpetually  renewed  from  the 
Infinite  Source  of  life. 

The  unexpectedness  of  the  summons  —  it  came  "  at 
midnight"  —  is  emphasized  because  that  entered  into  the 
result.  It  always  enters.  You  may  be  moving  quietly 
upon  your  way  when  some  unlooked-for  crisis  makes  a 
supreme  demand.  The  young  fellow  at  college  finds  him- 
self suddenly  injected  into  a  group  of  students  who  are  the 
foes  of  sobriety,  clean  living,  intellectual  achievement. 
The  business  man  finds  himself  in  a  situation  where  a  lie 
or  a  dishonest  trick  will  secure  an  immediate  advantage  for 
his  enterprise.  The  man  with  a  Christian  inheritance  and 
training  finds  himself  unexpectedly  in  a  situation  where 
the  tide  sets  strongly  against  honest  faith  and  godly  living 
—  he  is  sorely  tempted  to  drift  with  the  current. 


430  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

In  these  situations  hundreds  of  men  go  down  in  moral 
defeat.  They  have  no  reserves.  They  have  a  bit  of  oil 
in  their  moral  lamps  but  no  vessels  at  hand  to  replenish 
them  when  the  period  of  temptation  to  barter  away  the 
higher  for  the  lower  is  protracted.  They  might  have  had  — 
they  had  been  repeatedly  urged  to  make  their  moral  re- 
sources adequate  to  the  demands  which  were  sure  to  come, 
but  they  had  neglected  it.  Now  when  the  hour  strikes  and 
the  call  comes,  "  Behold  your  duty  —  Go  ye  out  to  meet 
it,"  their  strength  fails  and  they  slink  away  in  moral 
darkness. 

The  hard  test  may  come  in  some  personal  crisis.  Your 
health  may  fail,  compelling  you  to  face  a  life  of  inactivity 
and  invalidism.  You  may  meet  with  business  reverses  and 
feel  tempted  to  fling  away  principle  and  perhaps  life  itself. 
Death  may  enter  your  home,  blotting  all  the  light  out  of 
your  sky  even  though  the  sun  shines  elsewhere.  In  the 
face  of  that  hard  situation  there  comes  a  call  for  patience 
and  heroism,  for  fidelity  and  steadfastness.  Alas  for  you, 
if  you  find  that  the  lamp  which  ought  to  be  burning  with 
a  steady  flame  is  going  out!  If  that  hour  finds  your  mind 
without  faith,  your  heart  without  grace,  your  will  not  re- 
enforced  by  its  sense  of  harmony  with  the  divine  will,  the 
crisis  will  spell  defeat. 

The  call  of  duty  comes  to  all  college-trained  men  and 
women  these  days  in  the  form  of  a  demand  for  intellectual 
seriousness,  honesty  and  efiiciency.  We  live  in  the  twenti- 
eth century,  and  if  we  listened  only  to  the  orators  without 
looking  at  the  facts,  we  might  fancy  that  the  sunlight  of 
intelligence  was  shining  everywhere. 

It  is  not  so.  In  the  face  of  all  the  humbug  and  delusion, 
superstition  and  dogmatism  in  modern  life  there  is  sore  need 
of  the  high  qualities  named  above.  The  plain  facts  of 
physiology,  hygiene  and  sanitary  science  are  tossed  out  of 


THE  PARABLES  OF  THE  KINGDOM        431 

the  window  almost  contemptuously  on  the  strength  of  some 
flighty  bit  of  sentiment.  Multitudes  of  men  are  hurried 
away  into  the  swamp  in  pursuit  of  some  political  or  eco- 
nomic will-o'-the-wisp  whose  unreality  has  been  demon- 
strated by  wide  and  instructive  areas  of  actual  experience. 
Nostrums  and  patent  medicines  of  all  sorts,  physical, 
mental,  industrial,  political,  are  being  swallowed  wholesale 
to  the  detriment  of  our  personal  and  corporate  well-being. 
Poor  dumb  fools  are  still  butting  their  brains  out  upon  the 
moral  corner-stones  of  the  universe  in  the  vain  supposition 
that,  after  all,  the  way  of  the  transgressor  may  not  prove 
hard. 

Spiritual  adequacy  is  a  purely  personal  matter  as  Jesus 
here  portrayed  it.  "  Give  us  of  your  oil,"  the  foolish  said 
to  the  wise,  "  for  our  lamps  are  going  out."  Why  not? 
Why  should  not  the  prudent  generously  share  their  re- 
sources with  their  less  fortunate  sisters?  They  could  not. 
That  for  which  the  oil  stands  is  not  transferable.  It  can- 
not be  handed  about  from  one  life  to  another  in  the  time 
of  crises  because  the  oil  stands  for  that  accumulation  of 
moral  reserve  which  belongs  to  well-developed  personal 
character. 

The  parable  rings  true.  The  very  nature  of  the  case, 
the  God  of  things  as  they  are,  is  forever  saying  to  the 
foolish  who  would  borrow  from  their  friends  to  supply 
their  own  deficiences:  "  Not  so!  Go  and  buy  for  your- 
selves! Moral  adequacy  to  the  demands  made  by  recurring 
duty  must  be  attained  by  each  one  for  himself."  The 
father  of  the  reckless,  dissolute,  headstrong  boy  would  be 
glad  to  share  his  own  sobriety,  integrity  and  love  of  hard 
work  with  the  young  fellow,  but  he  cannot.  The  son 
must  gain  those  needed  qualities  for  himself. 

The  highest  happiness  in  life  comes  in  making  one's 
self   adequate    to   meet    the   calls   of   duty    as    they   come. 


432  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

The  very  achievement  of  that  result  is  a  wedding-feast  in 
itself  —  it  is  the  marriage  of  aspiration  with  realization. 
Turn  again  to  the  Representative  Man!  See  him  praying 
among  the  olive  trees  the  night  he  was  betrayed!  See  his 
pitying  eyes  upon  those  trembling  disciples  who  hesitate 
between  loyalty  and  flight!  See  him,  the  holiest  being 
who  ever  walked  the  earth,  facing  the  necessity  of  dying 
like  a  criminal  on  the  Cross!  The  situation  seemed  to 
lack  all  the  elements  of  joy  —  it  was  the  very  irony  of  fate. 
But  when  he  speaks  to  the  Father,  he  says,  "  I  have 
finished  the  work  thou  gavest  me  to  do  and  now  come  I 
to  thee."  When  he  speaks  to  his  disciples  he  says,  "  These 
things  have  I  spoken  unto  you  that  my  joy  might  remain 
in  you  and  that  your  joy  might  be  full."  The  joy  of  duty 
prepared  for  and  well  done  lifted  him  beyond  the  reach  of 
every  earthly  enemy. 


BOOK  IV 
THE  LIFE   ETERNAL 


LXXII 

WHAT  SHALL  I  DO  TO  INHERIT  ETERNAL 
LIFE? 

Mark  10  :  17-31 

Here  was  a  man  who  had  been  steadily  choosing  honesty 
rather  than  fraud,  truth  rather  than  falsehood,  purity 
rather  than  lust!  He  had  kept  the  commandments  from 
his  youth  up.  Yet  straight,  clean,  respectable  though  he 
was,  there  was  an  unrest,  a  dissatisfaction,  a  yearning  in 
his  heart  for  something  more. 

It  was  this  yearning  which  prompted  him  to  come  to 
Christ  with  his  straightforward  question:  ''What  lack  I 
yet?  What  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life?  "  His  heart 
was  restless  because  it  had  not  learned  to  rest  in  Him. 

He  was  not  a  man  to  be  lightly  esteemed  —  when  Jesus 
looked  upon  him  he  loved  him  —  and  what  Jesus  loves  we 
may.  He  represents  a  type  of  man  very  common  in  good 
society.  When  we  have  checked  off  the  scamps  and  ras- 
cals, sometimes  found  in  dress  suits  as  well  as  in  shirt 
sleeves;  when  we  have  cast  out  the  two-faced  sneaks  who 
show  one  side  of  their  natures  in  decent  society  and  another 
side  in  the  darkness  of  guilty  indulgence,  there  remains  a 
vast  number  of  just,  clean,  respectable  men.  Yet  in  their 
hearts  too  there  is  the  same  unrest  and.  longing.  If  each 
one  were  as  outspoken  as  this  well-to-do  young  man,  he 
might  say,  "What  lack  I  yet?"  He  would  recognize  the 
fact  that  there  is  something  higher  and  holier  in  human 
experience  which  he  has  not  achieved. 

What  did  Jesus  say  to  the  man  who  stands  before  us  as 

435 


436  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

a  type  of  that  entire  class?  He  said  three  things:  First, 
there  is  a  vital  defect  in  this  formal  righteousness  —  "One 
thing  thou  lackest."  The  glad  spontaneity  of  the  child  of 
God  who  is  about  his  Father's  business  because  of  his  joy- 
ous sense  of  the  filial  relation  he  sustains  was  wanting. 
Second,  the  spirit  of  service  must  be  inwrought  with  the 
habit  of  moral  respectability — "Sell  and  give."  Third, 
the  new  experience  must  root  down  into  personal  fellow- 
ship with  Christ — "Follow  me."  Let  me  develop  these 
three  points  in  the  passage  in  order. 

The  formal  rule-keeping  righteousness  which  the  rich 
young  man  exhibited  was  too  largely  negative.  A  man 
may  keep  his  life  free  from  the  sins  of  idolatry  and  pro- 
fanity, murder  and  adultery,  stealing  and  lying,  and  yet 
be  far  from  the  Kingdom  of  God.  He  may  do  all  this  in 
a  mood  thoroughly  selfish.  He  may  be  inspired  by  per- 
sonal prudence  to  avoid  these  coarser  vices.  He  may  do 
all  this  and  yet  show  himself  sadly  lacking  in  sympathy, 
in  affection,  in  the  habit  of  kindly  usefulness.  You  can 
think  of  men  who  are  coldly  correct  in  all  the  outward 
moralities  and  yet  constantly  repellent  by  their  lack  of 
heart.  Except  our  righteousness  exceed  the  righteousness 
of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  —  both  in  quality  and  in 
quantity  —  we  shall  in  no  wise  enter  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven. 

The  formal  rule-keeping  righteousness  also  lacks  warmth 
and  zest.  You  cannot  fire  the  hearts  of  men  with  enthu- 
sicism  over  a  moral  program  which  reads  like  a  page  from 
a  book  on  etiquette.  To  arouse  the  moral  nature  to  do 
its  best  there  must  be  great  aims,  splendid  ideals,  far- 
reaching  purposes  —  nay,  more,  there  must  be  the  sense  of 
devotion  to  some  personal  object.  The  Word  must  be 
made  flesh  if  it  is  to  dwell  among  us  full  of  grace  and 
truth,  competent  to  impart  fresh  stores  of  spiritual  life. 


THE  LIFE  ETERNAL  437 

When  Jesus  said  to  the  young  man,  "  Why  callest  thou 
me  good? "  he  was  not  disclaiming  the  title.  He  was 
indicating  that  it  was  not  a  title  to  be  lightly  used.  He 
would  have  the  young  ruler  delve  down  to  a  deeper  con- 
ception of  goodness  —  he  had  not  gotten  beyond  the  external 
observance  of  the  law  of  moral  respectability.  He  had 
not  provided  in  his  moral  program  for  those  personal  and 
emotional  elements  which  must  quicken  the  coldly  ethical 
if  we  are  to  grow  up  into  anything  worthy  to  be  called 
"eternal  life."  "One  thing  thou  lackest "  —  the  glad 
spontaneity  of  the  man  who  lives  in  the  filial  spirit  as  a 
child  of  the  Eternal. 

The  rich  young  man  was  told  further  to  "  sell  and  give." 
He  had  never  coupled  the  two  words  together  in  just  that 
way.  Other  combinations  are  more  in  evidence.  "  Sell 
and  get"  —  receiving  more  than  one  yields  in  his  bargains 
will  make  a  man  prosperous.  "Sell  and  spend"  —  this 
will  open  the  way  to  glorious  self-indulgence.  But  "  sell 
and  give  "  is  calculated  to  induce  the  spirit  of  service. 

Convert  your  holdings  into  usings!  Make  what  you  own 
an  instrument  of  service.  It  applies  to  much  more  than 
the  property  one  holds.  Your  intelligence,  your  culture, 
your  social  facility,  your  affections,  your  leisure  —  make 
them  all  instruments  of  service.  Sell  and  give  from  all 
these  assets  of  yours. 

In  a  church  I  once  served  there  was  a  man  of  large 
interests  and  high  civic  position,  a  university  man  well 
read  and  widely  traveled,  who  agreed  for  a  time  to  teach 
a  class  of  high-school  boys  in  the  Sunday  school.  He 
taught  them  the  lesson  for  the  day,  but  he  also  gave  them 
counsel,  inspiration,  enrichment  out  of  his  own  more 
abundant  life.  The  boys  counted  it  one  of  the  greatest 
privileges  which  had  come  to  them  just  to  know  the  man 
in  that  more  intimate  way  —  they  talk  about  it  to  this  day. 


438  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

There  came  to  each  one  of  those  boys  a  kindling  of 
interest,  the  awakening  of  a  higher  ambition,  the  strength- 
ening of  nobler  purpose,  an  enlargement  of  personal  experi- 
ence. It  was  good  for  the  boys  and  good  for  the  man  to 
thus  impart  himself.  He  had  learned  to  "  sell  and  give," 
for  that  which  has  enriched  one  life  may  be  made  to  enrich 
others. 

This  mode  of  life  had  best  root  down  into  personal 
fellowship  with  Christ,  for  the  Master's  last  word  to  the 
young  ruler  was,  "Follow  me."  The  reason  is  plain  — 
it  is  the  person  of  Christ  rather  than  the  moral  demands 
of  the  Ten  Commandments  or  even  the  more  searching 
ideals  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  which  has  made  Chris- 
tianity great,  enduring  and  effective. 

It  was  a  wise  college  president  who  said  recently:  "The 
cause  of  Christ  has  been  criticised  by  its  enemies  and  cari- 
catured by  its  friends.  The  truth  has  sometimes  fossilized 
in  the  minds  of  the  aged  and  been  prematurely  forced 
upon  the  lips  of  undeveloped  children.  It  has  been  mingled 
with  all  manner  of  exploded  superstitions,  false  philosophy, 
science  that  is  not  so  and  history  that  never  happened. 
It  has  been  obscured  under  absurd  rites,  buried  beneath 
incredible  creeds,  discredited  by  sentimentalists,  evaporated 
by  mystics,  monopolized  by  narrow  ecclesiastics.  But  in 
spite  of  all  these  grave  clothes  which  unbelieving  disciples 
have  tried  to  wrap  around  it,  it  has  lived  and  does  live 
and  will  live,  holding  the  keys  of  eternal  life." 

The  great  vital,  heart-renewing  and  soul-inspiring  con- 
stant through  all  these  outward  changes  in  current  Chris- 
tianity has  been  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  as  he  stands 
revealed  on  the  pages  of  history  at  the  time  of  his  coming 
and  as  he  stands  revealed  on  all  the  pages  of  Christian 
history  since  that  high  hour.  And  because  he  knew  that 
this  would  be  the  main  source  of  strength  in  the  estab- 


THE  LIFE   ETERNAL  439 

lishment  of  the  Kingdom  he  proclaimed,  it  was  inevitable 
that  he  should  exalt  the  significance  of  personal  fellowship 
with   himself.     His  great  word  was:    "  Follow  me!     Abide 


m  me 


This  the  young  man  lacked.  He  had  morality  —  he 
had  kept  the  Commandments  from  his  youth.  He  had 
earnestness  —  he  ran  to  Christ  and  kneeled  to  him  in  mak- 
ing his  appeal.  He  had  courtesy  —  he  addressed  him  as 
"  Good  Master."  He  had  capacity  for  that  finer  quality, 
of  life  which  Jesus  came  to  manifest  and  to  impart.  And 
for  all  this  Jesus,  as  he  looked  upon  him,  loved  him. 
But  when  he  was  brought  face  to  face  with  the  highest, 
he  flinched.  "  His  countenance  fell  at  the  saying  and  he 
went  away  sorrowful."  The  quest  of  the  best  was  not  for 
him. 

In  the  city  of  Dresden  there  hangs  a  canvas  of  Hofmann 
which  has  been  widely  reproduced  in  photograph.  The 
artist  has  painted  with  wondrous  skill  the  look  of  tender 
interest,  of  sympathy  and  of  disappointment  which  swept 
across  the  face  of  Christ  when  this  young  man  refused  the 
call  of  the  highest. 

Many  right  choices  he  had  already  made,  but  now  when 
it  came  to  a  supreme  choice  between  selfishness  and  ser- 
vice, between  following  his  own  respectable  pleasures  and 
following  Christ,  he  failed.  The  highest  he  had  ever  seen 
was  offered  and  declined.  Thus  when  the  curtain  falls  in 
the  Scripture  narrative,  the  young  man  is  faced  away  from 
his  Saviour  and  Lord.  And  when  the  curtain  falls  for 
each  one  of  us,  the  last  curtain  on  the  last  act  closing  up 
the  life  on  earth,  will  it  leave  us  faced  away  from  him, 
refusing  the  best  he  offers,  or  will  it  leave  us  faced  toward 
him  in  glad  acceptance  and  unending  aspiration? 

The  incident  made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  dis- 
ciples.    Jesus    saw    the    eager    interest   written    upon    their 


440  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

faces  as  he  "  looked  round  about."  He  remarked,  not 
harshly  but  sympathetically,  "  How  hardly  shall  they 
that  have  riches  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of  God."  The 
disciples  were  "  amazed  at  his  words,"  for  to  the  Jewish 
mind  the  possession  of  great  riches  seemed  indicative  of 
the  favor  of  God.  Then  Jesus  put  it  even  more  strongly 
in  that  startling  paradox,  "It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go 
through  a  needle's  eye  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the 
Kingdom  of  God." 

We  are  not  to  juggle  with  these  words  by  fanciful  refer- 
ences to  some  small  side  gate  in  the  wall  of  Jerusalem 
called  "  The  Needle's  Eye,"  v/here  the  camel  must  kneel 
and  divest  himself  of  his  pack  to  pass  through.  Let  the 
words  stand  in  their  rugged  paradoxical  boldness.  It  was 
the  Oriental  way  of  saying  that  to  devote  large  possessions 
to  Christian  ends  and  to  administer  large  fortunes  in  a 
thoroughly  Christian  spirit  is  a  work  of  gigantic  difficulty. 
And  every  conscientious  rich  man  finds  that  it  is  so.  With 
men  unaided  it  would  be  impossible,  but  with  God  even 
that  measure  of  spiritual  achievement  is  possible. 


LXXIII 
WHAT  DOES  IT  MEAN  TO  BE  GREAT? 

Mark  10  :  32-45 

Here  was  a  little  procession  headed  for  Jerusalem!  "They 
were  in  the  way  going  up  to  Jerusalem  —  and  Jesus  was 
going  before  them."  The  Master  and  his  friends  as 
they  toiled  along  were  only  a  few  yards  apart,  speaking 
after  the  manner  of  men,  but  in  moral  feeling  there  was  a 
continent  between  them.  They  were  widely  removed  not 
in  miles  but  in  moods.  When  he  turned  about  at  the  petty 
demand  made  by  two  of  them  and  looked  back  from  the 
spiritual  level  where  he  stood,  he  could  scarcely  see  them. 

They  were  going  up  to  Jerusalem!  They  but  dimly 
understood  the  significance  of  that  far  off-goal.  Yet  they 
must  have  felt  something  unwonted  on  that  fateful  journey. 
We  read  that  the  disciples  "  were  amazed  and  they  that 
followed  were  afraid."  His  bearing,  the  deeper  lines  in  his 
face,  his  evident  brooding  over  the  mighty  issues  of  this 
journey  to  Jerusalem,  had  served  to  impress  them  with  the 
sense  of  something  ominous. 

Then  the  Master  swiftly  outlined  to  their  wondering 
minds  the  program  of  experience  which  lay  ahead.  "He 
took  the  Twelve  and  began  to  tell  them  what  things  should 
happen  unto  him!  Behold,  we  go  up  to  Jerusalem!  The 
Son  of  Man  shall  be  delivered  unto  the  chief  priests"  — 
the  human  at  the  mercy  of  a  blind  ecclesiasticism.  "  They 
shall  condemn  him.  They  shall  mock  him  and  scourge 
him.  They  shall  spit  upon  him.  They  shall  kill  him." 
The  cumulative  effect  of  these  successive  statements   as  to 

441 


442  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

the  shame  and  the  pain  which  awaited  him  at  the  hands 
of  evil  was  calculated  to  induce  a  new  mood  in  the  hearts 
of  those  rough  men.  If  any  man  among  them  ventures 
to  open  his  lips  now  it  will  be  to  utter  something  high 
and  fine. 

Alas,  no!  Has  he  been  so  long  time  with  them  and  yet 
have  they  not  known  him!  They  show  themselves  incom- 
petent to  follow  in  his  train  even  afar  off.  Their  souls 
were  out  of  drawing  in  that  their  minds  were  still  self- 
centered.  "  James  and  John  came  to  him  saying,  Grant 
us  that  we  may  sit  one  on  thy  right  hand  and  the  other  on 
thy  left  hand,  in  thy  glory." 

The  desire  for  distinction  is  deep-rooted  and  universal. 
Whether  it  is  Napoleon  on  horseback,  bent  upon  the  mili- 
tary mastery  of  all  Europe,  or  Simeon  Stylites  on  his  pillar 
eagerly  enjoying  the  crowds  of  wondering  admirers  at- 
tracted by  the  fame  of  his  self-denial,  the  passion  for  dis- 
tinction asserts  its  power.  Here  in  that  hour  when  momen- 
tous events  in  the  moral  history  of  the  world  were  just 
emerging  above  the  horizon,  two  of  the  inner  circle  of  the 
Master's  disciples  were  all  intent  upon  the  little  axes  they 
had  to  grind. 

It  was  a  big,  bold,  brusque  demand  they  made.  In  their 
uninstructed  minds  the  glory  and  the  grandeur  of  life  was 
to  be  found  in  climbing  up  where  one  could  sit  on  the  right 
hand  of  power.  They  had  yet  to  learn  that  true  glory  lies 
in  the  readiness  to  stoop  down  and  serve  with  that  effi- 
ciency which  springs  alone  from  complete  self-devotement. 
How  callow  they  were!  •  . 

And  to  sit  at  his  right  hand  or  his  left  was  not  what 
they  imagined.  Were  they  indeed  ready  to  be  thus  inti- 
mately associated  with  him  in  the  high  tasks  of  the  King- 
dom. "  Can  ye  drink  of  the  cup  that  I  drink?  Can  ye  be 
baptized  with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with?  "     He 


THE  LIFE   ETERNAL  443 

is  indicating  in  vivid  phrase  that  to  be  "  next  to  him  "  in 
the  establishment  of  his  Kingdom  means  to  share  in  all  the 
perils  and  sacrifices  of  that  spiritual  undertaking.  They 
were  clamoring  for  glory  —  he  throws  them  back  upon 
themselves  by  his  inquiry  as  to  whether  their  fortitude  and 
devotion  were  commensurate  with  the  high  positions  they 
sought. 

Can  ye  drink  of  the  cup?  Can  ye  be  baptized  with  the 
baptism  I  am  baptized  with?  With  the  glad  confidence  of 
youthful  inexperience  they  bravely  retorted,  ''  We  can." 
It  was  what  Newman  called  *'  The  Venture  of  Faith." 
Their  untested  purposes  ran  out  eagerly,  not  knowing 
whither  they  went.  Their  confident  acceptance  of  his  chal- 
lenge does  them  honor,  but  when  the  hard  test  came  they 
flinched. 

Jesus  assured  them  that  they  would  indeed  share  in  his 
sufferings,  but  to  sit  on  his  right  hand  or  on  his  left  was 
not  his  to  give.  "It  shall  be  given  to  them  for  whom  it  is 
prepared."  In  some  earthly  kingdom  preferment  might  be 
bestowed  arbitrarily  by  personal  favor.  In  his  Kingdom 
inward  fitness  rather  than  personal  influence  would  deter- 
mine the  award. 

*'  When  the  ten  heard  it  they  began  to  be  much  dis- 
pleased with  James  and  John."  Two  were  full  of  personal 
ambition  and  ten  were  filled  with  personal  resentment  lest 
the  ambitions  of  the  favored  two  should  be  accomplished. 
How  self-centered  they  all  were  even  in  the  face  of  the  an- 
nouncement made  regarding  the  tragic  ending  of  their 
Master's  career!  Self-assertion  on  his  right  hand  and  carp- 
ing jealousy  on  the  left  —  with  what  untempered  mortar 
was  he  compelled  to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  coming 
Kingdom! 

Then  Jesus  proceeded  to  define  the  nature  of  true  great- 
ness.    How  strangely  have  the  current  estimates  of  men  at 


444  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

this  point  run  counter  to  his!  There  was  a  time  when 
every  one  said,  "  The  great  man  is  the  fighter."  Each 
man  was  measured  by  the  length  and  the  strength  of  his 
sword.  Saul  was  made  king  of  Israel  because  he  stood  head 
and  shoulders  above  his  fellows,  a  big,  strapping,  successful 
fighter.  In  Japan  the  ancient  aristocracy,  the  Samurai, 
was  made  up  entirely  from  the  military  class.  In  mediaeval 
Europe  the  plumed  knight  and  the  helmetted  warrior  were 
held  in  highest  esteem. 

But  that  mood  is  passing.  The  swords  will  be  slowly 
but  surely  beaten  into  plowshares.  The  bright  metal 
of  the  nation's  best  manhood  must  be  shaped  into  produc- 
tive rather  than  into  destructive  forms.  When  the  people 
of  France  were  deciding  by  popular  vote  a  few  years  since 
who  was  the  greatest  Frenchman  in  history,  the  largest 
number  of  ballots  did  not  go  to  Napoleon,  the  man  of  bat- 
tles, who  destroyed  the  lives  of  a  million  men  —  the  largest 
number  went  to  Pasteur,  the  man  of  science,  who  in  his 
laboratory  laid  the  foundations  for  saving  the  lives  of  un- 
told millions.     Man  at  his  best  is  not  a  fighter. 

The  military  type  of  civilization  is  everywhere  being 
superseded  by  the  commercial.  There  are  many  who 
would  say  that  the  greatest  man  is  the  one  who  produces 
and  accumulates  the  largest  amount  of  money,  provided 
only  that  he  does  it  honestly.  It  is  a  more  splendid  thing 
in  the  eyes  of  aspiring  youth  to  be  a  captain  of  industry 
than  a  captain  of  infantry.  Men  are  being  measured  to- 
day, not  by  yardsticks  and  not  by  the  length  of  their 
swords,  but  the  size  of  their  "  rolls  "  of  banknotes. 

But  that  mood  also  is  passing.  We  cannot  measure  the 
dimensions  of  a  man  with  a  banknote.  We  cannot  tell 
"  how  much  a  man  is  worth  "  by  looking  in  the  assessor's 
book  or  in  Bradstreet.  We  can  only  tell  how  much  the 
things  which  he  owns  are  worth.     The  worth  of  the  man  is 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  445 

quite  another  matter.  And  the  greatest  man  Is  not  the 
one  who  owns  the  largest  number  of  things,  for  a  man's 
life  does  not  consist  in  the  abundance  of  the  things  that  he 
possesses. 

There  are  those  who  say  that  the  greatest  man  is  the 
thinker.  The  military  type  of  civilization  gives  way  to  the 
commercial,  and  commercial  interests  are  in  turn  over- 
shadowed by  the  intellectual.  The  true  measure  of  a  man 
is  to  be  found,  it  is  asserted,  in  the  curious  gray  convolu- 
tions of  the  brain.  The  man  of  insight  and  judgment,  the 
man  of  outlook  and  discrimination,  the  man  of  original  and 
creative  ability  in  the  realm  of  knowledge  —  here  surely 
we  find  man  at  his  best!  Here  certainly  is  the  type  of 
excellence  which  is  entitled  to  its  seat  at  the  right  hand  of 
power. 

We  have  crystallized  that  estimate  into  proverbs: 
"  Knowledge  is  power."  "  The  world  belongs  to  the  man 
who  knows."  "  Wisdom  is  the  principal  thing,  therefore 
get  wisdom  and  with  all  thy  getting,  get  understanding." 
The  world  is  laying  a  generous  tribute  of  its  admiration 
and  of  its  treasure  at  the  feet  of  expert  knowledge.  The 
Church  and  the  Hospital  are  sometimes  almost  forgotten 
by  the  rich  in  their  eager  desire  to  endow  and  equip  great 
universities  and  to  house  huge  libraries  of  books. 

The  Master  of  the  higher  values  passed  by  all  these  im- 
perfect conceptions  of  greatness.  "  Ye  know  that  among 
the  Gentiles  the  great  ones  exercise  lordship  and  dominion. 
It  shall  not  be  so  among  you.  If  any  man  would  be  great 
among  you  let  him  serve!  The  greatest  of  all  is  the  ser- 
vant of  all." 

Usefulness  is  greatness.  There  is  no  other  greatness 
worthy  of  the  name.  The  greatest  man  in  any  group,  in 
any  community,  in  any  nation,  is  the  one  who  most  worthily 
and  acceptably  serves  the  deeper  interests  and  permanent 


446  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

well-being  of  his  fellows.  How  would  you  define  man  at 
his  best?  Ideally  he  is  a  servant.  At  his  best  man  serves. 
This  is  what  the  Perfect  Man  said:  "  I  am  among  you  as 
One  who  serves."  This  is  what  the  Perfect  Man  did:  "He 
took  upon  himself  the  form  of  a  servant,"  and  became 
obedient  to  the  exacting  demands  of  the  most  august  form 
of  service.  Wherefore  God  has  highly  exalted  him  until 
his  name  is  above  every  name. 

The  fighter  with  his  sword  and  the  money-maker  with 
his  roll  of  banknotes  and  the  thinker  with  his  book  will  all 
have  to  stand  aside  and  take  the  lower  place.  When  hu- 
manity rose  to  its  highest  historic  level  in  the  person  of 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  it  was  seen  that  he  came  not  to  be 
ministered  unto  but  to  minister  and  to  give  his  life  a  ran- 
som for  many.  This  is  the  quality  of  life  which  alone  be- 
comes redemptive,  saving  the  world  from  its  sins. 


LXXIV 

COUNT  THE  COST! 

Uike  14  :  25-35 

"  There  went  great  multitudes  with  him  and  he  turned 
and  said  "  those  searching  words  which  we  find  in  this 
passage!  The  multitudes  were  beginning  to  believe  that 
Jesus  might  be  the  promised  Messiah,  that  the  crisis  might 
be  near  at  hand,  that  he  might  be  ready  to  set  up  his 
visible  Kingdom.  They  wanted  to  keep  near  him  that  they 
might  not  miss  any  of  the  glories  and  blessings  which  they 
believed  were  to  accompany  that  consummation  of  Israel's 
hopes. 

In  the  face  of  this  growing  popularity  Jesus  raised  the 
standards  of  discipleship  and  imposed  more  searching  tests. 
He  knew  that  the  narrow  gate  does  not  commonly  gather 
the  largest  crowd.  When  he  saw  the  crowd  collecting  there- 
fore he  proceeded  to  show  them  that  the  gate  was  narrow 
and  the  way  strait. 

He  knew  that  the  highest  ideal  does  not  ordinarily  poll 
the  largest  number  of  votes.  When  he  saw  these  "  great 
multitudes  "  preparing  to  roll  up  a  tremendous  majority  for 
the  cause  he  represented,  he  immediately  added  ten  cubits 
to  the  stature  of  those  ideals  which  the  people  in  their 
shortsighted  fervor  were  vainly  imagining  to  be  adequate 
for  the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom. 

"  Count  the  cost,"  he  cried  to  them  as  he  saw  them 
thronging  him.  If  any  man  comes  to  me  and  does  not  sub- 
ordinate his  own  natural  affection,  his  love  of  gain  and 
"  his  own  life  also  "  to  that  supreme  spiritual  loyalty  req- 
uisite to  discipleship,  "  he  cannot  be  my  disciple." 

447 


448  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

"  His  fellow-countrymen  were  very  much  excited  by  the 
hope  of  a  wonderful  social  and  political  deliverance  which 
they  wrongly  believed  to  be  close  at  hand,"  says  Dean 
Inge.  "  He  told  them  that  their  millennium  was  not  com- 
ing at  all,  nor  anything  like  it.  But  he  added  that  he  had 
been  commissioned  to  bring  them  something  better,  namely, 
a  spiritual  and  moral  emancipation  which  would  make  life 
happy  and  blessed  for  them  whatever  earthly  troubles 
they  might  have  to  endure.  This  '  unpatriotic  pessimism ' 
was  too  much  for  his  countrymen.  So  although  they  ap- 
proved of  the  excellent  moral  tone  of  his  sermons,  they  had 
him  crucified." 

"  Count  the  cost,"  he  said  over  and  over  again.  He 
would  have  every  Christian  know  in  advance  "  exactly  what 
he  was  in  for."  "  Whosoever  doth  not  bear  his  cross  can- 
not be  my  disciple."  "  Whosoever  will  come  after  me,  let 
him  deny  himself  and  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me." 
"  Ye  call  me  Master  and  Lord.  If  I,  then,  your  Lord  and 
Master,  have  washed  your  feet,  ye  also  ought  to  wash  one 
another's  feet.  The  servant  is  not  greater  than  his  Lord." 
"  Ye  shall  be  hated  of  all  men  for  my  name's  sake." 

He  illustrated  this  necessity  of  counting  the  cost  by  two 
references  to  current  events.  Pilate  had  recently  begun  an 
aqueduct  and  had  been  compelled  to  abandon  his  project 
for  want  of  means  to  complete  it.  Jesus  would  not  have 
the  people  placed  in  a  similarly  absurd  position.  "  Which 
of  you  intending  to  build  a  tower,  sitteth  not  down  first 
and  counteth  the  cost  whether  he  have  sufficient  to  finish 
it." 

Herod  the  king  had  been  attacked  by  Aretas,  an  Ara- 
bian king,  for  divorcing  his  first  wife  (who  was  a  daughter 
of  this  king)  in  order  to  marry  Herodias.  The  result  was 
that  his  weaker  army  was  entirely  destroyed.  "  What  king 
going  to  make  war  against  another  king  sitteth  not  dov/n 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  449 

first  and  consulteth  whether  he  be  able  with  ten  thousand 
to  meet  him  that  cometh  against  him  with  twenty  thou- 
sand? "  Jesus  would  not  have  them  undertake  the  Chris- 
tian life  without  knowing  what  they  were  about  lest  haply 
men  might  mock  them,  saying,  "  These  men  began  to  build 
and  were  not  able  to  finish." 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  the  modern  church  has 
been  taking  its  Master  seriously  at  this  point.  Has  it  been 
taking  its  own  obligations  seriously?  The  living  of  a  Chris- 
tian life  is  no  holiday  affair.  We  shall  not  advance  the 
cause  of  him  who  uttered  these  searching  words  by  welcom- 
ing all  sorts  and  conditions  of  mind  and  heart  into  church 
membership.  Let  it  be  made  clear  to  all  who  come  that 
what  they  are  undertaking  is  rigorous.  The  rolls  of  mem- 
bership might  not  be  so  extensive  as  at  present,  but  would 
not  the  real  power  of  the  church  for  good  be  greater  if  its 
life  were  made  more  intensive? 

It  is  our  business  as  it  was  his  business  to  hold  up  the 
Christian  standard  of  living  and  not  whittle  it  down  by 
endless  shavings  of  concession  until  it  has  so  fine  a  point 
upon  it  as  to  be  indistinguishable  from  the  standard  of 
worldly  society.  And  it  is  our  further  business  to  strive 
to  live  according  to  that  standard  through  his  grace, 
whether  men  hear  or  forbear,  leaving  the  result  with  him 
who  is  responsible  for  the  whole  undertaking  in  a  sense  that 
we  are  not. 

By  this  straightforward  policy  of  thoroughness  we  shall 
also  consult  the  highest  interest  of  the  cause  we  have  at 
heart.  There  is  a  certain  fine  flavor  in  that  passage  from 
"  The  Strength  of  the  People,"  by  Mrs.  Bosanquet.  "  In 
all  social  work  there  is  one  main  thing  which  it  is  impor- 
tant to  remember  —  that  the  mind  is  the  man.  If  we  are 
clear  about  this  great  fact  we  have  an  unfailing  test  to 
apply  to  any  scheme  of  social  reformation.     Does  it  appeal 


450  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

to  men's  minds?  Not  merely  to  their  momentary  needs  or 
appetites  or  fancies,  but  to  the  higher  powers  of  affection, 
thought  and  reasonable  action?  Great  religious  teachers 
who  have  put  their  faith  in  spiritual  conviction  and  con- 
version, who  have  refused  to  accept  anything  short  of  the 
whole  man,  have  achieved  results  which  seem  miraculous 
to  those  who  are  willing  to  compromise  for  a  share  in  the 
souls  they  undertake  to  guide!  " 

But  what  a  paradoxical  statement  is  this!  ''  If  any  man 
come  to  me  and  hate  not  his  father  and  mother  and  wife 
and  children  and  brothers  and  sisters,  he  cannot  be  my 
disciple."  Is  this  the  teacher  who  on  another  occasion  de- 
nounced the  slippery  Pharisees  who  made  the  command, 
"  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,"  of  no  effect  by  their 
moral  shuffling?  They  said,  "  Corban,"  and  then  refused 
to  use  their  means  to  minister  to  the  needs  of  their  par- 
ents? Is  this  the  One  who  on  his  cross  looked  with 
affection  upon  Mary  and  thinking  of  her  future  necessities, 
forgot  his  own  anguish  in  order  to  say  to  John,  "  Son, 
behold  thy  mother,"  and  to  Mary  herself,  "  Mother,  be- 
hold thy  son  "? 

There  seems  an  inconsistency  here.  But  Jesus  spake  not 
as  the  scribes  nor  as  we  do  here  in  Connecticut.  He  put 
his  principles  oftentimes  in  bold  paradoxes  to  arrest  atten- 
tion and  to  fix  some  principle  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers. 
He  confidently  left  something  to  the  good  sense  and  dis- 
crimination of  his  hearers  who  would  not  always  follow  the 
letter  of  his  words  to  their  hurt,  but  would  by  the  spirit 
of  them  enter  into  life. 

In  any  normal  situation  the  natural  affection  felt  for  those 
we  are  bidden  by  Scripture  and  by  our  own  best  instincts 
to  hold  dear,  would  be  in  no  sense  incompatible  with  su- 
preme loyalty  to  Christ.  The  two  are  not  opposed.  But 
where  an  abnormal  situation  does  arise,  where  the  call  of 


THE  LIFE   ETERNAL  451 

the  nearest  relatives  looks  in  one  moral  direction  and  the 
call  of  duty  to  Christ  in  quite  another,  then  the  secondary- 
must  yield  to  the  primary. 

No  daughter  is  called  upon  to  degrade  herself  to  gain 
means  to  minister  to  the  pleasure  of  her  father  and  mother. 
No  man  is  warranted  in  stealing  to  gain  wealth  to  minister 
to  the  pleasure  of  the  wife  he  loves.  When  conflict  comes 
between  the  natural  implications  of  devotion  to  those  we 
hold  dear  and  the  higher  law  of  obedience  to  the  perfect 
v/ill  of  God,  the  latter  must  take  precedence.  And  in  place 
of  putting  this  in  that  abstract  form  common  to  our  ethical 
teachers,  the  Master,  himself  an  Oriental  shaping  his  mes- 
sage primarily  for  Orientals,  utters  this  truth  in  a  striking 
paradox. 

The  cost  of  discipleship  as  here  defined  is  seen  to  be 
great.  It  involves  nothing  less  than  the  entire  devotion  of 
the  entire  man  to  the  highest  ideals  the  world  has  ever 
seen.  Whatever  has  value  is  purchased  with  a  great  price. 
The  redemption  of  our  souls  was  precious  and  it  was 
purchased  by  the  blood  of  Christ.  The  gaining  of  that 
quality  of  character  worthy  to  be  called  "  Christian  "  is 
precious  and  it  comes  only  where  a  man  invests  all  that  he 
has  in  securing  that  pearl  of  great  price. 

There  are  no  short  cuts  —  it  cannot  be  done  by  casting 
one's  self  down  from  the  pinnacle  of  some  temple  in  a 
momentary  burst  of  dare-devil  enthusiasm.  There  are  no 
royal  roads  —  it  cannot  be  achieved  by  some  clever  bit  of 
alchemy  which  would  change  stones  into  bread.  There  is 
no  hope  along  the  line  of  easy  compromise  —  the  devil 
does  not  have  ''  all  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  "  to  sell, 
and  if  he  had  we  could  not  afford  to  take  them  on  his 
terms.  The  high  end  in  view  can  only  be  gained  by  strict 
obedience  to  every  word  that  proceeds  out  of  the  mouth  of 
God. 


452  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

"  Nothing  fails  like  success.  It  kills  off  families  more 
surely  than  any  oppression  that  falls  short  of  slavery. 
Luxury  has  destroyed  every  class  or  nation  that  practiced 
it."  Therefore  let  not  that  pungent,  preservative  salt  of 
Christian  life  and  service  found  in  the  spirit  and  habit  of 
self-sacrifice,  ever  lose  its  savor!  For  whosoever  would 
save  his  life  shall  lose  it;  and  whosoever  would  lose  his  life 
for  Christ's  sake  shall  find  it. 


LXXV 

THE  PARABLE  OF  FORGIVENESS 

Matt.  18  :  15-35 

With  all  his  lofty  idealism  Jesus  never  forgot  that  he 
was  dealing  with  flesh  and  blood.  He  knew  that  the 
interests  of  the  Kingdom  would  be  intrusted  to  human 
beings.  He  faced  the  fact  of  moral  limitation.  "It  must 
needs  be  that  offenses  come "  —  it  all  comes  inevitably 
in  the  day's  work.  Therefore  the  Christian  must  learn 
how  to  live  in  a  faulty  world  bearing  himself  with  large- 
minded  charity. 

Here  are  "  counsels  of  perfection  "  regarding  the  treat- 
ment of  fault  in  others!  "  If  thy  brother  trespass  against 
thee  go  and  tell  him  his  fault  between  thee  and  him  alone,'' 
The  more  common  way  is  to  tell  all  the  neighbors  or  the 
boarding  house  or  the  newspapers.  "  Between  thee  and 
him  alone "  —  for  where  two  men  unwitnessed  by  the 
prying  eyes  of  any  third  party,  and  with  even  one  of  them 
in  the  right  mood  touching  the  trespass  committed,  are 
met  together,  there  is  an  Unseen  One  in  the  midst  lending 
his  aid. 

The  man  who  is  sinned  against  is  to  take  the  initiative 
—  "go  and  tell  him  his  fault,"  without  waiting  for  the 
offender  to  come  forward  and  confess.  The  man  who  is 
not  at  fault  can  more  appropriately  and  more  effectively 
make  the  overtures.  It  is  so  in  the  divine  economy  — 
there  the  initiative  is  taken  by  the  Father  who  seeks  to 
reconcile  sinful  men  to  himself.  While  we  were  yet  sin- 
ners he  sent  his  Son. 

453 


454  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

If  the  offender  meets  this  overture  with  the  right  re- 
sponse the  matter  is  settled  —  "if  he  hear  thee  thou  hast 
gained  thy  brother."  If  he  refuses,  then  it  may  be  well  to 
try  again  in  company  with  one  or  two  trusted  friends  of 
both  parties.  By  the  mouths  of  two  or  three  w^itnesses  the 
equities  may  be  indicated  and  established.  If  he  refuses 
their  offices  then  the  matter  is  to  be  reported  to  the  con- 
gregation of  Christian  believers.  And  if  the  offender  de- 
clines to  heed  the  admonition  of  the  church,  he  becomes 
as  a  heathen  man  and  a  publican. 

It  ought  to  be  noted  that  this  counsel  was  to  apply  to 
personal  wrongs  done  —  ''If  thy  brother  trespass  against 
thee."  The  social  and  legal  aspects  of  the  evil  done  are 
not  dealt  with  in  this  passage.  And  the  forgiveness  to  be 
extended  was  conditional  —  it  depended  upon  the  willing- 
ness of  the  wrongdoer  to  respond  to  the  kindly  approach. 
The  right  action  of  two  is  demanded  for  the  experience  of 
forgiveness  —  it  must  be  proffered  by  a  magnanimous  heart 
and  be  received  by  a  penitent  one.  The  blessing  of  for- 
giveness cannot  fall  like  the  rain  of  heaven  upon  the  just 
and  upon  the  unjust.  A  man  can  be  rained  on  no  matter 
what  his  mood  may  be,  but  he  can  only  be  forgiven  when 
his  mood  is  right. 

In  the  just  exercise  of  this  grace  Christian  society  may 
wield  a  marvelous  power.  It  may  by  extending  mercy  to 
those  who  have  made  moral  failure  aid  in  releasing  them 
from  their  evil  habits ;  it  may  by  harsh  condemnation  help 
to  fix  them  in  wrong  courses..  It  was  not  to  some  eccle- 
siastic wielding  an  esoteric  and  magical  authority  but  to 
Christian  society  that  Jesus  said,  "  Whatsoever  ye  shall 
bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven  and  whatsoever  ye 
shall  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven."  So  potent 
is  the  mercy  shown  or  the  harshness  exhibited  toward  one 
who  has  done  wrong  that  the  judgments  of  earth  have  a 


THE  LIFE   ETERNAL  455 

way  of  registering  themselves  in  results  which  determine 
the  verdict  in  an  abiding  moral  order. 

In  the  face  of  this  august  responsibility  and  this  search- 
ing demand  for  charity  toward  offenders,  Peter  felt  that  he 
would  like  to  have  his  obligations  more  closely  defined. 
He  would  be  glad  to  have  a  limited  stint  of  duty  cut  out 
for  him.  "  Lord,  how  oft!  How  oft  shall  my  brother  sin 
against  me  and  I  forgive  him?  Till  seven  times?  "  The 
Rabbis  said  three  times  was  enough  and  Peter  felt 
that  he  was  more  than  generous  in  raising  the  limit  to 
"  seven." 

But  the  man  who  is  showing  mercy  according  to  some 
footrule,  keeping  tab  on  the  number  of  times  he  has  over- 
looked the  faults  of  his  fellows,  is  not  in  the  mood  to  show 
genuine  forgiveness.  "It  profits  little,"  Moody  used  to 
say,  "  to  bury  the  hatchet  and  leave  the  handle  sticking 
out."  In  the  great  moral  order  there  is  no  Heavenly  For- 
giveness Company  Limited,  and  among  men  there  can  be  no 
fixed  specifications  as  to  the  practice  of  mercy. 

Jesus  answered,  "  I  say  not  seven  times  but  seventy 
times  seven."  This  meant  that  forgiveness  was  to  be  re- 
peated indefinitely,  for  no  man  would  think  of  setting  down 
the  particular  instances  when  he  had  shown  himself  mag- 
nanimous toward  an  offender  until  the  account  stood 
"  four  hundred  and  ninety  "  and  then  suspend  payment  of 
mercy  due.  "  We  are  to  forgive  whenever  we  can  —  as 
often  as  the  wrong-doer  gives  us  an  opportunity." 

The  Master  told  them  a  short  story  bearing  on  this  duty. 
A  certain  king  had  a  subject  who  owed  him  eleven  mil- 
lions of  dollars.  When  that  subject  failed  financially  the 
king  generously  forgave  him  all  that  debt  and  released  him 
from  the  obligation.  But  this  subject  had  a  fellow-subject 
who  owed  him  twenty-five  dollars,  and  when  this  debtor 
was   similarly   straightened   his   hard-hearted   creditor   said, 


456  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

"Pay  me  what  thou  owest";    and  then  took  him  by  the 
throat  and  cast  him  into  prison. 

What  frightful  ingratitude  and  inconsistency!  Alas  for 
those  who  expect  that  the  eleven  millions  of  faulty 
deeds  charged  against  them  in  the  moral  accounts  of  the 
world  will  be  overlooked  by  the  divine  compassion  and 
then  go  out  visiting  a  fierce  condemnation  upon  the  petty 
offenses  of  others!  How  far  they  are  from  the  king- 
dom of  God!  How  far  they  must  travel  before  they 
come  within  sight  of  that  Cross  where  he  hung  and 
prayed,  "  Father,  forgive  them  for  they  know  not  what 
they  do." 

It  was  a  man  high  in  the  civil  life  of  our  country,  the 
chief  executive  of  one  of  our  great  cities,  who  said,  "  I 
forgive  everybody,  everything,  every  night."  It  is  the  only 
way.  Hatred,  bitterness,  cherished  grudges  have  no  useful 
place  in  life.  The  forgiving  heart  alone  wins  those  reac- 
tions, perpendicular  and  horizontal,  which  have  abiding 
worth.  And  our  own  need  of  mercy  should  prompt  us  all  to 
the  steady  exercise  of  mercy,  for  if  we  from  our  hearts 
forgive  not  every  one  his  trespasses  neither  will  our  Heav- 
enly Father  forgive  us. 

We  maintain  a  kind  of  ethical  bimetalism  in  our  treat- 
ment of  certain  faults  committed  by  men  and  by  women. 
Some  man  in  early  life  may  step  aside  from  the  path  of 
purity  yet  return  and  become  again  a  riespected  member  of 
society.  But  the  woman  once  having  stepped  aside  re- 
ceives no  such  favor.  This  is  partly  due  to  the  higher 
standard  of  purity  set  for  woman  —  it  is  none  too  high,  yet 
it  should  be  matched  by  one  for  men  equally  high.  But  it 
is  due  much  more  to  the  large  measure  of  ready  scorn 
heaped  upon  the  erring  woman  even  by  her  own  sex. 
And  by  that  harsh,  unthinking,  unyielding  censure  the 
offender  may  speedily  be  hardened  into  brazen  effrontery 


THE  LIFE  ETERNAL  457 

where  she  hurls  back  the  world's  scorn  in  an  open  defiance 
of  all  regard  for  decency. 

It  would  cost  something  in  courage,  in  self-sacrifice,  in 
patient  affection  for  the  good  women  of  her  acquaintance 
by  their  delicate,  merciful  consideration  and  undiscouraged 
moral  interest  to  exercise  that  power  of  Christian  absolu- 
tion named  by  the  Master  in  this  passage  —  true  forgive- 
ness always  costs,  as  the  world  saw  once  for  all  on  Calvary 
—  but  their  joy  and  their  reward  in  loosing  that  soul  from 
her  sin  would  be  great. 

^^  It  is  to  that  merciful  disposition  that  Jesus  entrusts 
the  keys  of  the  kingdom."  The  practice  of  mercy  opens 
the  way  for  men  into  the  favor  of  God  even  as  the  lack  of 
It  shuts  them  out  by  fixing  their  feet  more  firmly  in  the  path 
of  evil.  It  is  not  for  Christian  society  to  shrink  from  this 
high  responsibility  nor  to  abdicate  its  rights.  Let  it  rather 
put  the  shoes  from  off  its  feet  as  standing  on  holy  ground 
and  exercise  this  power  of  binding  and  of  loosing.  It  can 
by  Its  own  bearing  fix  wrongdoers  more  hopelessly  in  the 
power  of  their  sin  or  it  can  aid  them  in  finding  glad  re- 
lease. 

We  shall  most  readily  gain  and  retain  the  merciful  mood 
by  frankly  confessing  our  own  sins  in  the  presence  of  the 
Infinite   Mercy.     The  glaring  fault  of  the   Pharisee  lay  in 
the  fact  that  he  was  altogether  too  ready  to  recognize  and 
confess  other  men's  faults,  meanwhile  neglecting  the  plain 
duty  of  first  sweeping  his  own  dooryard.     "  God,  I  thank 
thee  that  I  am  not  as  other  men  are,  extortioners,  unjust 
adulterers."     His  statement  may  have  been  well  within  the 
facts.     He    probably    had    never    committed    any    of    the 
wrongs    there    named.     His    outward    life    made    a    better 
showing,  no  doubt,  than  that  of  the  poor  publican  in  the 
rear.     But  confession  of  sin  like  charity  begins  at  home 
The   fact   of   moral    failure   is   universal   and    each   man 


458  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

enters  into  a  new  dignity  when  he  frankly  confesses  his  own 
need  of  forgiveness,  standing  ready  meanwhile  to  extend 
the  same  mercy  to  his  fellows.  How  many  of  you  read 
"  De  Profundis,"  a  cry  from  the  depths,  by  Oscar  Wilde? 
Overtaken  by  disgrace  unspeakable,  a  criminal  in  Reading 
Gaol,  he  drew  back  the  curtains  of  his  soul  and  allowed  the 
world  to  look  in.  There  are  passages  in  his  book  as  search- 
ing as  anything  in  the  "  Imitation."  And  near  the  end  he 
says,  "  The  highest  moment  in  a  man's  life  is  when  he 
kneels  in  the  dust  and  beats  upon  his  breast  and  tells  all 
the  sins  of  his  life."  We  feel  our  need  of  mercy  and  we 
do  pray  for  it;  and  that  same  prayer  should  teach  us  all 
the  mood  of  mercy. 


LXXVI 

THE  TRIUMPHAL  ENTRY 

Mark  11 : 1-11 

Jesus  came  as  a  Prophet  revealing  his  truth  to  the  minds 
of  men.  He  came  as  a  Priest  laying  upon  the  altar  of 
service  the  acceptable  offering  of  his  own  life.  He  came  as 
a  King  asserting  the  sovereignty  of  his  spirit  over  the  wills 
of  men.  The  narratives  of  his  "  triumphal  entry  "  take  up 
this  last  aspect  of  his  work,  recalling  the  time  when  he 
was  welcomed  to  the  capital  city  of  his  nation  with  ho- 
sannas.  The  streets  of  Jerusalem  rang  with  the  cry, 
''  Blessed  is  the  king  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord." 

He  visited  five  places  in  connection  with  that  entry. 
They  are  significant  as  to  his  purpose  for  this  many-sided 
life  of  ours,  throwing  light  upon  the  inclusiveness  of  his 
redemptive  aim. 

He  first  laid  his  hand  on  a  bit  of  property.  He  boldly 
claimed  it  for  his  own  high  purpose.  "  Go  into  the  village 
and  find  a  colt  tied  whereon  no  man  ever  sat.  Loose  him 
and  bring  him.  If  any  one  say  unto  you,  '  Why  do  ye 
this?  '  say  ye,  *  The  Lord  hath  need  of  him.'  " 

It  was  the  Master's  custom  to  walk,  his  own  two  feet 
carrying  him  on  his  errands  of  mercy.  But  on  this  occasion 
he  would  enter  the  city  mounted  in  fulfillment  of  an  an- 
cient prediction  as  to  the  approach  of  the  Messiah.  He 
would  assert  his  Messianic  character  by  a  significant  act 
which  the  whole  multitude  could  see.  To  do  this  he  must 
have  the  ass  —  he  had  need  of  that  bit  of  property. 

459 


460  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

Let  the  ass  stand  as  a  modest  representative  of  the 
material  values  of  the  world.  The  Lord  has  need  of  them 
all.  His  purpose  for  the  race  can  only  be  achieved  as 
these  materials  are  yielded  to  him  in  willing  consecration. 
The  farms  and  the  mines,  the  stores  and  the  shops,  the 
railroads  and  the  steamships,  must  yield  to  the  mastery  of 
his  spirit  and  be  administered  with  reference  to  the  high 
ends  of  human  well-being  which  he  held  steadily  in  view. 
The  whole  industrial  framework  of  society  must  be  made 
the  subject  of  a  higher  consecration  that  his  will  may  be 
done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven.  He  therefore  laid 
his  hand  upon  that  bit  of  property  claiming  it  for  his 
use  and  asserting  his  kingship  in  the  realm  of  material 
values. 

He  entered  the  capital  city  of  his  nation,  the  center  of 
its  political  life,  asserting  his  kingship  —  "He  went  before 
going  up  to  Jerusalem."  When  he  rode  through  its  streets 
his  friends  hailed  him  as  a  king  though  he  wore  no  crown, 
carried  no  scepter,  displayed  none  of  the  usual  symbols  of 
authority.  He  accepted  the  designation,  gladly  remarking 
that  if  the  childlike  minds  of  those  who  loved  him  had 
held  their  peace  at  such  an  hour,  the  stones  of  the  street 
would  have  become  vocal  in  hailing  his  sovereignty. 

The  political  institutions  of  any  people  are  meant  to 
express  the  sentiments  and  principles  which  make  for  hu- 
man well-being.  In  the  higher  exercise  of  their  citizenship 
men  are  bent  upon  realizing  the  claim  that  "  the  powers 
that  be  are  ordained  of  God."  They  are  seeking  to  make 
the  civil  government  a  finite  copy  of  the  infinite  moral 
order  of  the  universe. 

It  is  natural,  therefore,  for  Christ  to  assert  his  sover- 
eignty in  the  field  of  political  interest.  The  State  must  be 
ruled  not  by  the  Church  —  God  forbid  —  but  by  Christian 
principles  and  ideals,  by  the  potency  of  the  Christian  spirit 


THE  LIFE  ETERNAL  461 

safeguarding  the  deeper  interests  of  all  men  from  the  lowest 
to  the  highest. 

The  moral  government  of  all  those  forms  of  activity 
which  make  up  our  political  life  must  be  taken  upon  his 
shoulder.  They  can  rest  securely  on  no  less  august  a 
foundation.  When  Jesus  entered  Jerusalem,  "  all  the  city 
was  moved."  When  the  spirit  and  method  of  his  life  enter 
effectively  into  the  life  of  a  modern  city,  it  too  is  moved  — 
moved  to  higher  levels  of  thought  and  action.  In  the 
progress  of  his  Kingdom  the  civic  interests  must  finally 
hail  him  as  Master  and  cry  with  all  the  other  forces  of  a 
renewed  civilization,  "  Blessed  is  the  King  that  cometh  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord." 

He  went  into  the  place  of  worship  in  Jerusalem.  He 
found  the  Tem.ple  filled  with  noisy,  dickering  traders  and 
mxoney  changers.  The  place  which  should  stand  pre- 
eminently for  the  diffusion  of  spiritual  values  had  dropped 
to  a  low  level  under  the  weight  of  human  greed.  He  rose 
up  in  his  indignation  and  drove  out  the  unclean,  grasping 
horde,  restoring  the  atmosphere  of  sincere  devotion,  making 
his  Father's  house  once  more  "  a  house  of  prayer."  He 
thus  asserted  his  mastery  over  the  worship  of  his  nation. 

The  life  that  is  to  do  justly  and  love  mercy  must  for 
its  renewal  and  reenforcement  go  apart  ever  and  anon  to 
walk  humbly  before  God.  The  attitude  of  reverent  trust, 
the  upward  look  and  reach  of  a  holier  aspiration,  the  sense 
of  immediate  handclasp  with  forces  not  of  this  earth  — 
all  this  is  demanded  by  the  soul  which  would  live  nobly. 
Jesus  knew  how  essential  is  this  higher  employ  of  human 
faculty  and  he  boldly  asserted  his  sovereignty  over  that 
universal  instinct. 

The  results  of  his  work  are  apparent.  He  has  entered 
the  heathen  temples  where  ignorance  was  bowing  before 
hideous  idols.     He  does  not  upbraid  the  misguided  souls  — 


462  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

he  quietly  removes  the  idols,  turning  the  attention  of  the 
worshipers  to  himself  as  he  says:  "  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath 
seen  the  Father.     Worship  the  Father,  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 

He  visited  the  place  of  instruction.  Luke  tells  us  that 
after  he  entered  the  city  he  was  teaching  daily  "  and  all 
the  people  were  very  attentive  to  hear  him."  In  the  Orient 
the  work  of  instruction  is  much  less  formal  than  it  is 
under  these  western  skies.  Socrates  gathered  his  pupils 
about  him  in  the  market  place.  In  the  University  of  Cairo 
you  will  see  today  teachers  seated  in  the  square  adjoining 
one  of  the  Mosques  with  groups  of  pupils  about  them  in 
the  open  air.  And  the  Master  was  teaching  in  the  open 
court  adjoining  the  Temple  asserting  his  sovereignty  over 
the  work  of  instruction. 

The  Church  and  the  school  are  meant  to  be  near  neigh- 
bors. The  cap  and  gown  of  the  college  man  point  to  the 
ecclesiastical  origin  of  the  higher  education.  Jesus*  favorite 
title  was  "  Master,"  and  he  called  his  followers  "  disciples," 
that  is  to  say,  "  learners  "  in  the  life  he  came  to  mani- 
fest and  to  impart. 

The  chief  office  of  the  school  is  not  to  impart  informa- 
tion or  to  give  technical  training  to  particular  faculties  or 
to  increase  the  earning  power  of  the  individual  as  he  offers 
his  training  for  sale  in  the  market.  These  by-products 
of  the  educational  process  are  all  incidental  to  the  main 
purpose.  The  high  office  of  the  school  is  the  development, 
the  enrichment  and  the  maturing  of  personality.  The 
school  which  is  fully  aware  of  itself  comes  that  men  may 
have  life  and  have  it  more  abundantly.  It  seeks  to  make 
them  alive  at  more  points,  alive  on  higher  levels,  alive  in 
more  praiseworthy  fashion.  It  was  quite  in  line  with  his 
vast  purpose  that  Jesus  should  enter  the  lists  where  instruc- 
tion was  given  and  assert  there  the  sovereignty  of  his  own 
purpose  and  method. 


THE  LIFE  ETERNAL  463 

He  went  finally  to  a  home.  When  evening  came  "  he 
went  forth  out  of  the  city  to  Bethany  and  lodged  there." 
Bethany  was  the  home  of  Mary  and  Martha  and  Lazarus. 
It  was  the  nearest  approach  to  a  real  home  (aside  from  his 
boyhood's  home  in  Nazareth)  which  the  Son  of  Man  with 
nowhere  to  lay  his  head  had  found.  And  here  the  last 
supreme  act  of  the  day  was  to  go  out  to  Bethany  and  lay 
his  hand  in  blessing  upon  the  most  fundamental  of  all 
human  institutions. 

The  various  experiences  indicated  above  all  came  in  the 
day's  work,  but  the  climax  is  significant.  When  Jesus  had 
asserted  his  sovereignty  over  the  industrial  life  of  the  world 
by  claiming  the  consecration  of  its  property;  when  he  had 
ridden  into  the  capital  city  of  his  nation  as  a  King,  in- 
sisting upon  the  reign  of  a  higher  law  in  civic  life;  when 
he  had  cleansed  the  Temple  of  its  unworthy  elements, 
making  it  once  more  a  place  of  spiritual  helpfulness;  when 
he  had  as  the  world's  Greatest  Teacher  swept  aside  the 
petty  quibbles  of  the  ecclesiastics  and  the  scholastics, 
setting  forth  that  vital  truth  which  makes  men  free — 
when  he  had  done  all  this,  then  he  gave  himself  to  the 
home  whose  alabaster  box  of  uncalculating  love  has  filled 
the  earth  with  its  fragrance. 

The  choicest  product  of  his  beneficent  rule  in  human 
affairs  is  to  be  found  in  the  Christian  home.  Has  Mo- 
hammedan Turkey  or  Hindoo  India  anything  worthy  to  be 
set  beside  the  Christian  home  where  wife  and  children  find 
their  full  honor  and  opportunity?  Let  the  God  who  an- 
swers by  such  fair  exhibits  of  his  power  as  are  to  be  found 
in  the  Christian  home,  be  God! 

When  the  picturesque  swamis  at  the  Parliament  of  Relig- 
ions in  Chicago  were  telling  us  what  their  respective  faiths 
had  done  for  the  world,  they  had  nothing  to  say  about 
what  those  faiths  had  accomplished  for  the  home.     There 


464  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

was  nothing  to  be  said.  It  would  have  brought  a  coldness 
over  the  meeting  had  the  point  been  raised.  But  within 
our  Christian  civilization  there  is  no  mightier  agent  of  re- 
demption than  the  consecrated  home  honored  and  blessed 
by  the  presence  of  Christ  within  its  walls. 

We  stand  here  in  the  twentieth  century  better  able  to 
appreciate  the  full  royalty  of  the  nature  of  Christ  because 
of  what  we  have  seen  in  the  ages  since  of  the  blessed  re- 
sults of  his  reign.  What  should  be  our  response?  Let 
it  come  in  a  more  complete  devotement  of  our  total  life 
to  this  King  of  kings!  Let  Church  and  State,  market-place 
and  school  and,  best  of  all,  the  home,  stand  together 
in  glad  allegiance  before  him,  crying,  "  Hosanna!  Blessed 
is  the  king  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord." 


LXXVII 

"  AFTER  THIS  THE  JUDGMENT  " 

Mark  11  :  12-33;    Luke  13  :  6-9 

In  this  story  of  the  barren  fig  tree,  it  has  seemed  to 
many  Bible  students  that  the  teaching  of  a  certain  parable 
has  gotten  mixed  up  with  what  might  have  been  regarded 
as  an  inexplicable  miracle.  We  read  in  Mark's  gospel  that 
the  Master  "  seeing  a  fig  tree  afar  off  covered  with  leaves 
came  to  it  if  haply  he  might  find  fruit  thereon."  But  it 
proved  to  be  fruitless,  having  "  nothing  but  leaves."  He 
then  said  to  it:  "No  man  shall  eat  fruit  of  thee  hereafter 
forever."     And  his  disciples  heard  it. 

We  read  in  Luke's  gospel,  "  He  spake  also  this  parable. 
A  certain  man  had  a  fig  tree.  He  came  and  sought  fruit 
thereon  and  found  none.  He  then  said  to  the  vinedresser, 
Behold  these  three  years  I  come  seeking  fruit  on  this  fig 
tree  and  find  none.  Cut  it  down.  Why  cumbereth  it  the 
ground?  "  But  at  the  vinedresser's  request  he  allowed  it 
to  stand  one  year  more,  allowing  time  to  dig  about  it  and 
fertilize  it,  with  the  understanding  that  if  it  then  bore  fruit 
it  should  remain  —  if  not,  it  should  be  cut  down. 

It  would  be  difficult  for  us  to  believe  that  Jesus  "  cursed 
the  fig  tree"  (as  some  have  claimed),  blasting  its  life  with 
a  word  and  dooming  it  to  death.  Difficult  for  several 
reasons : 

First  of  all  because  the  narrative  does  not  say  that  he 
"  cursed  "  it.  Peter  referred  to  the  matter  the  following 
day,  saying,  "  The  fig  tree  which  thou  cursed  is  withered 
away,"  but  a  number  of  inaccurate  remarks  fell  from  the 

465 


466  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

lips  of  the  impulsive  Peter.  He  spoke  unadvisedly  with 
his  lips  on  several  occasions,  "  not  knowing  what  he 
said." 

In  the  second  place  it  would  attribute  to  Jesus  an  ac- 
tion apparently  wanton  and  petulant,  entirely  out  of 
character  with  the  Master's  moods  and  methods. 

And  last  of  all,  the  poor  fig  tree  was  not  at  fault  — 
"It  was  not  the  season  of  figs."  This  was  in  April.  The 
earliest  figs  came  in  June,  and  the  ordinary  crop  in  August. 

The  whole  idea  of  having  Jesus  use  his  supernatural 
power  to  blast  a  helpless  tree  because  he  had  not  found 
figs  upon  it  several  months  before  any  of  the  trees  in  that 
region  bore  figs,  becomes  repugnant  both  to  the  intelli- 
gence and  to  the  moral  sense.  The  real  truth  of  the  mat- 
ter seems  to  lie  about  here  —  the  tree  was  abnormally  full 
of  leaves.  And  Jesus  used  it  as  a  symbol  of  those  lives 
which  belie  their  profession. 

He  used  the  tree  as  an  object  lesson  suggesting  a  truth 
particularly  applicable  to  the  Jews  of  that  day.  Their 
moral  attitude  was  one  which  flowered  forth  abundantly 
with  the  promise  of  fruitfulness.  But  when  judged  by  a 
demand  for  the  recognizable  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  "  love, 
joy,  peace,  patience,  gentleness,  goodness,  faithfulness, 
mildness  and  self-control "  they  also  belied  their  profes- 
sions. And  the  word  of  censure  not  strictly  applicable  to 
the  tree  which  was  unable  to  show  fruit  "  out  of  season  " 
was  a  fitting  word  of  judgment  to  be  pronounced  upon 
the  leaders  in  the  Jev/ish  Church  who  were  at  that  hour 
reaching  the  climax  of  spiritual  blindness  and  unfruitfulness 
in  plotting  against  the  Chosen  One  of  Israel. 

"  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  Not  by  the 
leaves,  nor  by  the  twigs,  nor  by  the  roots,  which  are  all 
but  means  to  an  end!  "By  their  fruits"  —  by  that 
which  they  give  off  to  meet  the  need  of  a  hungry  world. 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  467 

It  is  by  this  rule  that  fruit  trees  and  moral  beings  as  well 
are  to  be  tested. 

The  fig  tree  stood  in  Bethany  and  the  Master  with  his 
disciples  passed  over  the  brow  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  and 
came  into  the  city.  "  He  entered  into  the  Temple,"  and 
found  it  defiled  by  the  hateful  presence  of  that  sordid, 
mercenary  spirit  everywhere  fatal  to  devotion.  No  man 
can  serve  God  and  Mammon  anywhere,  least  of  all  in  the 
courts  of  the  Lord's  house. 

The  tables  of  the  greedy,  grasping  money  changers  were 
there.  Every  Jew  was  required  to  pay  annually  the  half- 
shekel  for  the  support  of  the  Temple  and  it  had  to  be 
paid  in  Jewish  coin.  The  pilgrims  from  afar  coming  up  to 
the  Feast  of  the  Passover  brought  Gentile  money,  and  the 
conversion  of  their  coin  into  Hebrew  currency  by  these 
shrewd,  conscienceless  money  changers  had  become  a 
profitable  trade.  Their  greed  had  edged  its  way  into  the 
very  place  of  prayer. 

The  men  who  bought  and  sold  doves  to  be  used  in 
making  the  offerings  according  to  Jewish  law  were  also 
there.  They  were  driving  hard  bargains  with  the  religious 
devotees  who  had  come  long  distances  to  enjoy  the  sacred 
privilege  of  making  their  offering  in  the  place  where  they 
believed  the  divine  honor  dwelt.  Greed  and  Fraud  had 
been  adding  cubits  to  their  stature  until  these  base  quali- 
ties in  those  grasping  men  stood  up  like  two  ugly  demons 
in  some  heathen  temple.  They  defiled  the  holy  place. 
They  destroyed  the  mood  of  devotion. 

It  was  a  horrible  sight  which  met  the  eyes  of  the  Master 
when  he  entered  that  place  of  worship  of  which  Solomon 
had  said:  ''Lord  God  of  Israel,  there  is  no  God  like  thee 
in  heaven  above  or  on  earth  beneath,  who  keepest  cove- 
nant and  mercy  with  thy  servants!  Hearken  thou  to  the 
supplication  of  thy  servant  and  of  thy  people  Israel  when 


468  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

they  shall  pray  in  this  place!  Hear  thou  in  heaven  thy 
dwelling  place,  and  when  thou  hearest,  forgive."  It  was  a 
horrible  sight  and  Jesus  cried  out,  "Is  it  not  written,  My 
house  shall  be  called  of  all  nations,  the  house  of  prayer? 
but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  of  thieves."  He  rose  up  in 
his  wrath  and  drove  them  all  out. 

We  have  here  "  the  wrath  of  the  lamb  "  and  we  need 
not  offer  any  word  of  apology  for  that  indignation.  "  Any 
darkening  of  the  world  by  cruelty  or  craft  brought  his 
soul  to  its  feet  fiery-eyed  and  defiant,"  as  Dr.  Jefferson 
puts  it.  "  The  sordid  wretches  who  cared  nothing  for  an- 
thems and  prayers  and  everything  for  money  kindled  a 
fire  in  him  which  well-nigh  consumed  him.  The  mis- 
creants who  fled  before  him  had  never  seen  such  a  flame 
as  darted  from  his  eyes.  That  a  building  erected  for  the 
purpose  of  adorning  the  name  of  God  should  be  converted 
into  a  market  was  so  abhorrent  to  his  great  soul  that  he 
swept  onward  into  action  which  astounded  his  disciples 
and  which  has  been  to  many  minds  a  scandal  ever  since." 

"  No  one  can  understand  the  cleansing  of  the  Temple 
who  has  never  experienced  the  force  and  heat  of  righteous 
indignation.  If  wood  does  not  burn,  it  is  because  it  is 
green  or  rotten.  If  hearts  do  not  burn  with  holy  fire  against 
wickedness,  it  is  because  the  heart  is  too  undeveloped  to 
feel  what  mxanly  hearts  were  meant  to  feel  or  because  the 
core  of  the  heart  has  been  eaten  out  by  the  base  practices 
of  a  godless  life." 

It  was  a  blow  between  the  eyes  for  the  corrupt  ecclesi- 
astics. "  The  scribes  and  chief  priests  heard  it  and  sought 
how  they  might  destroy  him,  but  they  feared  the  people 
because  all  the  people  were  astonished  at  his  doctrine." 
Officialdom  was  against  him  habitually  because  its  deeds 
were  evil  and  he  was  a  shining  Hght  cast  upon  their'  moral 
deformities.     But   the   unwarped   instincts   of   the   common 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  469 

people   made   response   to   his   appeal   and   stood   ready   to 
array  themselves  on  his  side. 

"  Every  evening  he  went  forth  out  of  the  city,"  spending 
the  night  in  the  grateful  atmosphere  of  that  home  of 
peace  in  Bethany.  When  he  and  his  disciples  returned 
the  following  morning  and  saw  the  fig  tree  which  had  been 
abnormally  full  of  leaves  now  withering  away,  Peter  re- 
marked upon  it.  Jesus  said  to  him:  "  Have  faith  in  God! 
Whosoever  shall  say  to  this  mountain.  Be  thou  taken  up 
and  cast  into  the  sea  and  shall  not  doubt  in  his  heart, 
but  shall  believe  in  his  heart  that  what  he  saith  cometh  to 
pass,  he  shall  have  it." 

Here  is  another  of  those  bold  metaphors  used  to  indi- 
cate the  stupendous  results  achieved  by  unwavering  faith! 
The  Master  was  not  thinking  of  removing  so  many  thou- 
sand cubic  yards  of  earth  as  a  contractor  might  in  exca- 
vating for  the  foundation  of  a  building.  There  is  no  record 
that  Jesus  or  that  any  of  his  disciples  ever  attempted  to 
move  a  mountain  by  faith  except  in  the  figurative  sense 
suggested  by  this  striking  statement.  But  in  preparing 
the  way  of  the  Lord,  in  making  straight  in  the  desert  a 
highway  for  our  God,  in  lifting  up  the  morally  low  and  in 
leveling  down  the  interfering  pride,  so  that  the  path  of 
the  coming  Kingdom  may  be  smooth,  the  stupendous  moral 
results  there  symbolized  have  been  and  are  being  accom- 
plished by  believing  men  in  every  country  in  Christendom. 

"  Have  faith  in  God."  When  I  was  in  college  in  a  cer- 
tain eastern  city  I  used  to  see  those  great  brave  words 
set  in  letters  of  gold  in  a  marble  slab  on  the  front  of  a 
hospital.  It  was  a  Christian  hospital,  and  hundreds  of 
sufferers  borne  thither  in  the  ambulance  or  assisted  up  the 
walk  by  loving  friends  looked  up  at  those  words  and  were 
reassured  as  they  passed  in  at  the  door.  The  One  who 
forgives  all  our  iniquities  and   heals   all   our  diseases  was 


470  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

there  at  work.  He  was  blending  his  infinite  energy  with 
the  benign  skill  and  the  tender  sympathy  of  human  hands 
and  human  hearts.  They  all  wrought  together  for  the 
same  high  end. 

"  Have  faith  in  God."  They  are  good  words  to  engrave 
on  a  building  devoted  to  healing  or  on  the  walls  of  a 
home  devoted  to  Christian  nurture  or  on  the  fleshy  tables 
of  an  individual  heart  intent  upon  values  which  endure. 
It  is  for  us  to  aim  boldly  for  that  simple,  original  po- 
tency of  vital  faith  in  God  here  suggested.  This  potency 
was  clearly  present  in  the  Christianity  of  that  age  which 
stood  close  to  the  Master.  It  is  meant  to  be  the  perpetual 
inheritance  of  the  whole  race  of  believing  men. 


LXXVIII 
"  LOVING  IS  THE  SECRET  OF  RIGHT  LIVING  " 

Mark  12  :  28-44 

In  an  earlier  chapter  we  saw  the  Master  silencing 
the  Herodians,  the  Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees  by  his 
wise  answers.  The  people  "  marveled  greatly  at  him," 
and  the  quibblers  had  been  impelled  to  hold  their  peace. 
Now  a  scribe  thinks  that  he  would  like  to  try  his  hand. 
"  One  of  the  scribes  heard  them  questioning  together 
and  knowing  that  he  had  answered  them  well,  asked  of 
him,  What  commandment  is  first?  " 

Jesus  had  been  asked  all  sorts  of  questions,  crafty  ques- 
tions, malicious  questions,  foolish  questions,  shallow  ques- 
tions, impossible  questions.  Here  comes  a  question  worthy 
of  the  Master's  attention.  What  commandment  stands 
first?  What  is  the  one  great  underlying  principle  of  right- 
eousness to  which  all  ethical  considerations  must  be  finally 
adjusted? 

It  was  indeed  "  a  great  far-reaching  question  repre- 
senting a  man  at  his  best."  This  man  was  not  in  the 
mood  to  deal  with  the  mint,  anise  and  cummin  of  religion, 
with  the  pepper,  the  mustard  and  the  allspice  on  the  table 
of  the  Lord  —  he  was  reaching  for  that  meat  which  comes 
down  from  above  to  give  life  unto  the  world.  "  Which 
is  the  greatest  commandment  in  the  law?  "  In  the  face 
of  such  a  question  the  Master  will  not  as  at  other  times 
skillfully  seek  to  extricate  himself  from  some  dilemma  into 
which  malicious  questioners  were  seeking  to  force  him.  He 
speaks  home  to  the  heart  of  the  questioner. 

471 


472  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

"  Hear,  oh  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  One."  These 
are  the  words  which  are  chanted  above  the  cradle  of  every 
newborn  Jewish  child  Here  was  Israel's  great  affirmation 
in  the  face  of  the  debasing  idolatry  and  polytheism  which 
degraded  the  religious  cults  of  men  when  the  words  first 
rang  out!  Here  is  Israel's  great  contribution  to  the  relig- 
ious thought  of  each  succeeding  age! 

"  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart 
and  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  There  is  no  other 
command  greater  than  this.  '*  Loving  is  the  secret  of  right 
living,"  as  Dr.  Bridgman  puts  it.  Out  of  the  heart  are 
the  issues  of  life  and  out  of  a  loving  heart  come  right 
issues. 

The  ancient  code  was  too  largely  negative.  It  was 
made  up  in  the  main  of  prohibitions.  It  said,  "  Thou 
shalt  not."  Thou  shalt  not  kill,  steal,  lie,  swear,  covet  or 
commit  adultery.  But  the  code  of  Christ  is  positive. 
It  says,  "  Thou  shalt  love."  Would  you  know  what  is  the 
first  commandment  of  all?  Love  God  and  love  men  — 
on  these  two  positive  commands  hang  the  moral  injunc- 
tions of  all  the  prophets  of  all  time. 

The  Master  specified  four  main  elements  in  the  love 
men  are  to  show  toward  God.  "  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with 
all  thy  mind  and  with  all  thy  strength."  It  was  a  love 
which,  like  the  ideal  order  John  saw  descending  out  of 
heaven  from  God,  stood  four-square,  facing  directly  upon 
every  conceivable  aptitude  and  interest. 

"  The  great  commandment  makes  room  for  all  these 
wide  diversities,"  says  Dean  Hodges.  "  The  strongest 
part  of  one  man  is  the  strength  of  his  arm  —  he  can  do 
nothing  so  well  as  to  pull  and  lift  and  push.  Another 
man  is  a  great  deal  better  at  thinking  than  he  is  at  lifting; 
cares   more   for   books   than   for   blocks   of  wood   or   steel; 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  473 

handles  a  pen  more  skillfully  than  any  other  tool;  is  best 
at  whatever  occupies  the  energies  of  the  mind.  Other 
people  attain  their  highest  possibilities  in  their  affections; 
cannot  manage  very  heavy  weights  nor  make  out  very 
difficult  problems,  but  are  strong  in  believing,  gifted  with 
great  capacity  for  trusting,  blessed  with  deep  and  warm 
affections.  Different  natures  approach  God  from  different 
sides." 

And  the  man  who  in  more  mystical  fashion  makes  his 
approach  to  God  in  pure  spiritual  aspiration  and  in  yearn- 
ing for  the  sense  of  fellowship  with  the  Eternal,  makes  his 
characteristic  contribution  to  that  fourfold  love  which  is 
to  bind  the  movements  of  the  race  "  as  with  gold  chains 
about  the  feet  of  God." 

In  studying  this  passage  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  the 
fact  that  in  the  New  Testament  two  different  words  are 
used  for  "  love."  The  love  which  is  denoted  by  the  Greek 
word  "  agapao  "  means  the  love  of  an  intelligent  good  will. 
The  love  denoted  by  the  word  "  phileo  "  is  a  more  ardent 
term  and  means  the  close  affection  of  a  warm  heart.  We 
love  God  and  we  love  our  neighbors  with  the  first  form  of 
love.  "  God  so  loved  the  world  as  to  give  his  only  be- 
gotten Son  "  with  the  first  form  of  love. 

But  when  the  New  Testament  speaks  of  the  love  Jesus 
had  for  Lazarus —  "  Behold,  how  he  loved  him";  and 
when  it  says,  "  He  that  loveth  son  or  daughter  more  than 
me,"^  it  uses  the  second  term  as  indicating  a  close  personal 
relation.  It  is  significant  that  when  we  are  commanded  to 
"  love  our  enemies,"  it  is  the  former  word  which  is  used  — 
it  is  to  be  the  love  of  choice  and  of  an  intelligent  good 
will  rather  than  the  unstudied  feeling  of  the  heart  flowing 
out  inevitably  toward  the  objects  of  an  intimate  affection. 
When  this  serious-minded  scribe  heard  the  direct  answer 
of  Jesus   to   his   request   for   the   fundamental   principle   in 


474  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

right  living  he  remarked:  "  Master,  thou  hast  well  said 
that  he  is  One  and  there  is  none  other  but  he.  And  to 
love  him  and  to  love  one's  neighbor  as  one's  self  is  more 
than  all  burnt  offerings  and  sacrifices."  He  had  the  gist 
of  it.  No  man  is  far  from  the  Kingdom  of  God  who  under- 
stands that  the  supreme  thing  in  religion  is  its  moral  re- 
quirement rather  than  its  ritual  observance  and  orders  his 
life  by  that  sense  of  values. 

In  that  age  when  formalism  had  all  but  smothered  real 
religion  it  was  refreshing  to  hear  such  a  word  from  the 
lips  of  a  scribe.  Jesus  commended  him  for  getting  beneath 
the  millinery  and  the  ruffling  that  lay  at  the  surface  of  the 
conventional  worship  in  order  to  lay  his  hand  on  the  warm, 
throbbing  flesh  of  real  religion.  "  When  Jesus  saw  that  he 
answered  discreetly,  he  said  unto  him,  Thou  art  not  far 
from  the  Kingdom  of  God."  And  after  that  no  man  dared 
ask  him  any  questions.  His  skill  in  parrying  their  crafty 
attacks,  and  his  straightforwardness  in  meeting  the  honest 
seeker  after  truth  with  light  in  which  there  was  no  dark- 
ness at  all,  dispelled  the  mood  for  further  questioning. 

He  then  spoke  to  them  of  how  far  his  own  worth  tran- 
scended the  conventional  homage  easily  accorded  him. 
"  How  say  the  scribes  that  the  Messiah  is  the  Son  of 
David?  "  Jesus  insisted  that  his  title  to  recognition  lay 
much  deeper  than  the  mere  fact  of  Davidic  descent.  He 
quoted  from  one  of  their  psalms  where  David  is  repre- 
sented as  calling  the  Messiah  ''  Lord."  "If  David  then 
call  him  Lord,  how  is  he  his  son?  "  The  Messiah  in  his 
own  person  possessed  that  which  entirely  transcended  the 
claims  of  one  whose  title  to  exaltation  rested  mainly  upon 
the  fact  that  he  was  descended  from  the  house  and  lineage 
of  David  —  he  possessed  that  character  which  warranted 
him  in  asserting  his  right  to  be  David's  Lord. 

The    chapter    closes    with    the    beautiful    bit    about    the 


THE  LIFE   ETERNAL  475 

poor  widow  with  her  two  mites  which  make  a  farthing. 
The  Master  had  warned  his  disciples  against  the  showy- 
pretensions  of  certain  insincere  ecclesiastics.  "  Beware  of 
the  scribes  who  desire  to  walk  in  long  robes  and  have 
salutations  in  the  market  place  and  chief  seats  in  the  syna- 
gogue, but  devour  widows'  houses  and  for  a  pretense  make 
long  prayers."  And  as  he  sat  over  against  the  treasury, 
he  saw  the  people  casting  in  their  money  and  many  that 
were  rich  cast  in  much.  But  in  striking  contrast  there 
came  "  one  poor  widow  and  she  threw  in  two  mites." 
"  A  single,  solitary,  sorrowful,  poverty-stricken  figure  lost 
in  the  passing  crowds  but  filling  the  Master's  eye." 

"  This  poor  widow  hath  cast  in  more  than  they  all." 
More  what?  Not  more  money  surely  —  no  sort  of  higher 
mathematics  could  make  that  out.  The  computation  was 
made  by  one  who  has  measures  of  value  which  commerce 
knows  not  of.  He  looked  not  on  the  outward  appearance 
or  upon  the  money  value  of  a  gift,  but  upon  its  heart. 

"She  hath  cast  in  more  than  they  all"  —  more  love, 
more  self-sacrifice,  more  of  that  inner  devotion  to  the  God 
of  those  high  values  for  the  furtherance  of  which  the 
ofi^ering  was  being  made.  When  the  Master  added  up  the 
columns  of  figures  which  his  own  discerning  heart  set 
down,  and  struck  a  trial  balance,  it  was  manifest  that  the 
largest  gift  made  that  day  stood  to  the  credit  of  the  poor 
widow  who  brought  two  mites. 

Loving  is  the  secret  of  right  living  and  loving  is  the 
secret  of  great  giving.  Loving  is  great  giving.  "  If  there 
first  be  a  willing  mind,  it  is  accepted  according  to  what  a 
man  hath  and  not  according  to  what  he  hath  not."  Here 
are  the  terms  of  the  comparison  as  Jesus  viewed  it  — 
"They  of  their  superfluity  —  she  of  her  want."  It  was 
not  a  question  as  to  which  gift  weighed  most  on  the  scales, 
but  which  one  loved  most  from  the  heart. 


476  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

How  completely  Jesus  answered  and  vanquished  his 
detractors!  They  never  surprised  or  forced  him  into  a 
foolish  word  or  into  an  unseemly  mood.  They  were  always 
laying  in  wait  "  that  they  might  catch  him  in  his  talk," 
but  they  never  did. 

"  Pharisees,  Sadducees,  Herodians,  Lawyers,  do  not 
trouble  yourselves  about  tribute  money  and  questions  of 
family  relationship!  Ask  deep  questions,  grand  questions, 
massive  questions.  Get  up  into  the  higher  region  of  think- 
ing and  there  learn  how  possible  it  is  for  reason  to  blossom 
into  faith  and  for  the  hard,  literal  intellect  to  bow  down 
in  tender  homage  before  the  Infinite  God."  He  was  "  the 
truth."  He  heard  all  their  questions  and  then  spake  to 
them  as  never  man  spake. 


LXXIX 
THE  JUDGMENT  OF  THE  NATIONS 

Matt.  25  :  31-46 

Here  is  a  passage  to  be  read,  pondered,  obeyed,  rather 
than  discussed.  We  fear  to  cloud  the  issue  if  we  under- 
take to  expound  it.  Let  us  sit  down  rather,  and  allow 
its  own  majestic  phrases  and  compelling  truths  to  have 
their  way  with  us  for  the  hour. 

Where  in  all  the  Master's  teachings  has  he  portrayed 
a  scene  more  august?  The  setting  he  gives  his  truth  is 
stately.  "  The  Son  of  Man  shall  come  in  his  glory  and  all 
the  holy  angels  with  him."  Here  is  a  celestial  visitant  at- 
tended by  his  heavenly  court.  "  He  shall  sit  upon  the 
throne  of  his  glory."  Here  is  One  who  bears  with  him  the 
authoritative  standards  of  that  upper  world.  "  Before 
him  shall  be  gathered  all  nations."  It  is  a  universal  assize 
—  there  shall  be  no  speech  nor  language  where  this  judg- 
ment shall  not  take  effect.  This  method  of  moral  dis- 
crimination shall  go  out  through  all  the  earth  and  its 
divisions  to  the  end  of  the  world. 

We  have  here  the  picture  of  a  universal,  cosmic  process 
brought  within  the  limits  of  a  canvas  which  can  be  framed 
in  human  speech  and  human  perception.  The  principle  of 
humane  consideration  for  one's  fellows  is  in  automatic 
fashion  continually  separating  the  sheep  from  the  goats. 
It  was  so  from  the  beginning,  is  now  and  ever  shall  be, 
world  without  end.  The  readiness  or  the  lack  of  readiness 
to  meet  the  demand  for  humane  service  is  forever  setting 

477 


478  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

men  at  the  right  hand  or  on  the  left  of  that  awarding 
authority  which  sits  supreme  in  the  heavens. 

"  He  shall  separate  them  one  from  another."  He  is 
constantly  doing  just  that.  The  three  familiar  passages 
in  this  chapter  of  Matthew's  Gospel  portray  under  varying 
forms  of  action  the  everlasting  process  of  separation  at 
work.  He  is  dividing  the  wise  from  the  foolish,  the  produc- 
tive from  the  slothful,  the  generous  from  the  selfish.  The 
two  parables  of  the  Virgins  and  of  the  Talents,  together 
with  this  sublime  scene  of  judgment,  are  all  meant  to  bring 
out  the  same  truth  that  moral  discriminations  are  being 
made  by  the  One  who  speaks  as  having  authority. 

The  principle  upon  which  the  award  is  made  is  the  cen- 
tral, vital  truth  oft  emphasized  in  this  passage.  Here  is  the 
Master  of  the  Ages  making  bold  to  assert  that  acceptance 
or  rejection  in  the  Day  of  Judgment  will  turn  upon  the 
presence  or  the  absence  of  the  spirit  and  practice  of  genu- 
ine kindness.  The  rating  given  by  One  who  assumes  to 
sit  upon  the  throne  of  glory,  gathering  the  nations  before 
him,  proceeds  upon  the  principle  that  men  are  to  be  judged 
according  to  the  treatment  they  have  dealt  out  to  their 
weaker  fellows. 

It  was  a  brave  thing  to  say  in  the  face  of  that  religious 
world  which  had  gone  to  seed  in  its  passion  for  orthodoxies, 
rituals  and  other  ecclesiastical  machinery.  It  was  not  the 
way  men  were  to  be  judged  according  to  the  views  held 
by  his  contemporaries.  But  Jesus  was  not  the  child  of  his 
age  —  he  was  the  Son  of  God.  Not  according  to  the 
mode  by  which  men  worship,  not  according  to  the  techni- 
cal correctness  of  their  philosophical  interpretations  of 
spiritual  reality,  not  according  to  the  measure  of  outward 
respectability  they  exhibit  in  their  avoidance  of  the  coarser 
sins  of  the  flesh,  are  men  to  be  judged  in  the  last  day. 
They  are  to  be  judged  by  their  humanity  as  it  has  found 


THE  LIFE  ETERNAL  479 

expression  or  has  failed  to  find  expression  in  such  generous, 
kindly,  effective  service  of  human  need  as  is  here  portrayed. 

How  modern  it  sounds  when  we  read  it  out  loud.  It 
might  have  been  written  yesterday.  What  a  rebuke  it 
brings  to  those  who  cast  aspersions  upon  the  Church  of 
Christ,  claiming  everything  for  **  the  social  emphasis  in 
modern  life."  One  would  think  sometimes  that  social 
service  must  have  been  invented  over  night  by  some  of 
these  nervously  irreligious  humanitarians.  Here  in  these 
words  uttered  by  the  Master  well-nigh  two  thousand  years 
ago  is  a  great  principle,  to  which  all  our  humanitarian 
propaganda  must  look  for  inspiration  and  ethical  warrant. 
"  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of 
these  ye  have  done  it  unto  me." 

"  I  was  hungry,"  he  said,  "  and  ye  gave  me  meat.  I 
was  thirsty  and  ye  gave  me  drink.  I  was  a  stranger  and 
ye  took  me  in.  I  was  sick  and  ye  visited  me.  I  was  in 
prison  and  ye  came  unto  me."  He  is  taking  the  whole 
mass  of  human  need,  physical,  social  and  moral,  upon  his 
heart  in  such  sympathetic  fashion  as  to  make  it  his  own. 
His  actual  identification  of  his  own  feelings  with  theirs, 
as  men  suffered  in  all  these  forms  of  human  deprivation, 
made  it  true  that  service  rendered  to  the  needy  would  be 
service  rendered  to  him. 

"  We  try  to  remember  Jesus  in  many  ways,"  said  Allen 
E.  Cross.  "  We  build  our  churches;  we  sing  songs  to  his 
name;  we  take  the  bread  and  wine  at  communion;  and 
so  we  try  to  bring  to  life  again  the  Lord  Jesus  and  come 
close  to  him.  Jesus  seems  to  say  in  this  passage:  '  If 
you  would  remember  me,  remember  your  needy  fellows. 
If  you  would  do  anything  for  me,  do  it  for  them.  If 
you  would  serve  me,  serve  them.  If  you  forget  them  and 
deny  them,  you  forget  me  and  deny  me.'  He  puts  him- 
self in  their  place  so  completely  that  he  makes  every  act 


480  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

of  kindness  on  our  part  a  sacrament  of  remembrance. 
What  I  may  call  its  sacramental  value  is  to  me  the  dearest 
and  most  beautiful  quality  of  this  test." 

His  words  fairly  staggered  the  minds  of  those  to  whom  he 
spoke.  The  words  would  stagger  us  had  not  long  use  and 
familiarity  dulled  our  minds  to  their  incisive  quality. 
The  people  were  amazed  that  the  poor,  hungry,  ragged, 
diseased,  nameless  (and  ofttimes  imprisoned)  beggars  they 
saw  about  the  streets  were  actually  the  objects  of  the  divine 
concern.  His  identification  of  himself  with  their  need 
bewildered  them. 

"  We  saw  thee  hungry?  Lord,  when?  "  To  picture 
that  multitude  of  needy  folk  whose  names  are  on  the  rec- 
ords of  the  Associated  Charities,  and  ever  and  anon  on  the 
books  of  the  police  court,  "  as  one  gigantic  personage  and 
that  personage  himself,  was  a  flight  of  the  poetic  imagina- 
tion so  audacious  and  difficult  "  as  to  make  it  well-nigh 
impossible  for  the  plodding,  literal  mind  to  follow  him. 

The  kindly,  generous  people  who  had  been  ministering 
to  human  need  so  effectively  as  to  merit  his  "  Come,  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for 
you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,"  were  puzzled  at 
the  audacity  of  his  statement.  They  were  uncertain  as  to 
its  implications.  "  Lord,  when?  "  It  had  become  the 
habit  of  their  lives  to  feed  and  to  clothe,  to  visit  and  to 
relieve  the  needy,  but  they  were  not  aware  of  the  lofty 
spiritual  significance  of  such  humane  service.  "  They 
lived  in  a  Presence  they  did  not  see."  They  had  caught 
the  Christ-spirit  all  unaware  of  its  ultimate  source. 

The  habitual  and  spontaneous  quality  of  the  service 
rendered  is  brought  out  by  those  words,  "  Lord,  when?  " 
"  The  righteous  did  not  know  that  they  had  been  doing 
all  this  —  therefore  it  was  not  done  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  some  happy  end.     They  had  wholly  forgotten  the 


THE  LIFE   ETERNAL  481 

beneficent  activities  attributed  to  them  —  therefore  they 
had  not  been  mere  legaHsts,  obeying  the  letter  of  a  law  and 
endeavoring  to  set  up  by  penance  or  gift  some  claim  to  the 
ultimate  clemency  of  heaven.  They  had  been  simply 
breathing  a  spirit,  embodying  an  aspiration,  setting  out  in 
beautiful  daily  life  that  which  was  internal  and  vital.  It 
was  part  of  their  nature,  and  had  become  such  by  minis- 
tries we  call  divine  and  spiritual." 

How  definite  this  passage  makes  the  ideal  of  fellowship 
Vvith  Christ.  "  The  seeming  unreality  of  the  spiritual  life," 
as  President  King  phrases  it,  need  not  disturb  the  mind  of 
the  man  who  has  entered  sympathetically  into  the  high 
mood  of  the  life  here  portrayed.  If  you  would  know  him, 
then  know  by  unselfish  and  sympathetic  ministry  all  these 
forms  of  need  with  which  in  mystical  fashion  he  has 
identified  himself. 

"  Have  I  been  so  long  a  time  with  you,  Philip,"  or 
Thomas,  Henry,  Richard,  "  and  yet  hast  thou  not  known 
me?  "  Have  you  seen  no  hungry  lives  in  your  community? 
Have  you  found  no  strange  and  lonely  lives  in  your  city 
craving  friendship?  Have  you  heard  of  none  who  were  ill, 
awaiting  the  ministry  of  human  skill  and  love?  Have  there 
been  none  imprisoned  within  their  own  evil  habits  and  by 
the  bars  of  men,  needing  deliverance?  He  that  has  known 
and  served  these  aright  has  known  and  served  me.  How 
sayest  thou  then,  "  Show  us"? 

You  may  have  seen  some  man  like  Horace  Bentley, 
who  went  about  among  the  poor  and  needy  that  he  might 
minister  to  their  lack.  He  was  eyes  to  the  blind  and  feet 
to  the  lame.  He  was  a  father  to  the  poor,  and  the  case 
that  he  knew  not  he  searched  out.  He  caused  the  widow's 
heart  to  sing  for  joy,  and  the  blessing  of  one  who  was 
ready  to  perish  came  upon  him.  And  when  you  looked 
closely  upon    those  to  whom  he  ministered,   you    saw   in 


482  THE  MASTER'S   WAY 

the  midst  of  them  another  whose  form  was  like  unto  that 
of  the  Son  of  God.  And  this  ancient  Scripture  was  there 
fulfilled  before  your  eyes. 

These  words  of  Christ  were  uttered  to  indicate  the 
fundamental  principle  upon  which  all  nations  of  men  are 
to  be  judged,  rather  than  to  serve  as  a  detailed  program 
of  the  future  world.  It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  with  the 
utmost  seriousness,  that  the  Merciful  One  said  of  those 
who  had  been  observing  the  law  of  kindness,  "  These 
shall  go  into  life  eternal  ";  and  of  those  who  had  failed  to 
serve,  "  These  shall  go  away  into  everlasting  punishment." 
Take  heed,  therefore,  how  ye  live! 


LXXX 

A  STUDY  IN  VALUES 

Mark  14  : 1-11 

"  Look  at  the  picture!  A  meal  served  in  the  house  of 
Simon  because  his  house  was  commodious!  The  Master 
in  the  place  of  honor,  the  disciples  near  him!  Martha 
waiting  at  table!  Lazarus  looking  out  on  things  with  the 
light  of  his  second  life  in  his  eyes!  Mary  with  the  inner 
vision  of  a  loving  heart  reading  in  the  Master's  face  a 
shadow  of  things  to  come!  A  hush  in  the  talking,  Mary 
kneeling  at  the  Master's  feet,  the  broken  vase,  the  perfume 
floating  through  the  room!  " 

''  There  was  a  silence  in  which  love  eternal  was  trying 
to  say  something  to  each  man's  heart,"  said  Percy  Ains- 
worth.  "  Then  the  first  man  to  break  the  silence  was  the 
man  to  whom  the  silence  had  said  nothing.  '  It  might 
have  been  sold  '  —  and  we  feel  that  vandal  feet  have 
trampled  the  vase  and  its  precious  contents  into  the  dust. 
The  roar  of  the  market  place  has  swept  into  the  sanctuary 
of  one  worshiping,  love-laden,  life-laden  moment." 

"  It  might  have  been  sold."  How  blind  the  man  was! 
He  had  held  the  bag  so  long  and  so  tight  that  now  the 
bag  held  him.  He  could  not  see  out.  There  was  nothing 
in  his  vision  at  that  moment  but  pieces  of  money.  Man 
does  not  live  by  cash  alone  —  Mary  had  learned  that 
priceless  lesson  but  Judas  had  not.  Mary  had  been  sitting 
at  the  feet  of  the  Master,  instructed  in  the  higher  mathe- 
matics which  dealt  with  values  which  Judas  knew  not  of. 

Judas  knew  the  market  price  of  perfume  and  alabaster. 

483 


484  THE   MASTER'S   VMY 

Mary  knew  something  of  the  abiding  worth  of  devoted 
action.  The  man  who  bhndly  undertakes  to  reduce  love 
values  and  spiritual  worth  to  terms  of  dollars  and  cents  has 
already  betrayed  his  Lord.  He  has  already  gone  out  into 
the  darkness  where  it  is  night.  He  is  on  his  way  to  that 
moral  state  where  it  were  better  that  he  had  not  been 
born. 

"It  might  have  been  sold  "  —  there  are  a  great  many 
things  (and  those  the  choicest  things  in  life)  which  cannot 
be  sold.  They  are  given  away  —  they  cannot  be  had  on 
any  other  terms.  The  woman's  kiss  of  affection,  the 
mother's  devoted  self-sacrifice,  the  life  blood  of  the  patriot, 
the  generous  friendship  of  an  uncalculating  heart  —  these 
things  cannot  be  bought  and  sold  as  if  they  were  meat  and 
potatoes. 

This  man  Judas  was  coarse  and  vulgar  in  the  extreme. 
In  a  lovely  scene  like  that,  all  he  could  see  or  say  was, 
"It  might  have  been  sold."  And  the  newly  rich  who  go 
about  with  a  look  in  their  eyes  and  a  tilt  in  their  bearing 
v/hich  say  as  plainly  as  words  could  put  it,  "  We  are  able 
to  buy  whatever  we  w^ant;  we  have  the  cash,"  are  no 
less  coarse  and  vulgar.  The  houses  they  inhabit  have 
never  been  filled  with  the  fragrance  of  Mary's  ointment. 

And  what  a  tragic  disappointment  awaits  those  who  seek 
to  buy  their  way  into  happiness  with  cold  coin.  The 
men  who  attempt  to  purchase  the  poor  counterfeit  of  a 
woman's  love  on  sale  in  certain  dark  streets  —  alas  for 
them  and  alas  for  the  women  who  traffic  in  that  which 
cannot  be  priced!  The  greedy  people  v/ho  undertake  to 
purchase  social  recognition  and  personal  friendships  with 
cash  down  —  alas  for  them  also. 

It  is  a  striking  fact  that  both  Matthew  and  Mark  bring 
this  narrative  of  the  anointing  into  close  connection  with 
the  first  visit  Judas  made  to  the  Chief  Priests  on  his  er- 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  485 

rand  of  treachery.  He  did  not  understand  the  true  mea- 
sure of  value  in  Simon's  house.  He  did  not  understand  the 
true  measure  of  value  when  he  bargained  with  the  cruel 
ecclesiastics.  He  thought  that  thirty  pieces  of  silver  might 
be  a  fair  price  for  moral  infidelity.  How  blind  he  was! 
How  little  he  knew  of  the  circulating  medium  and  the 
standards  of  value  in  that  kingdom  where  his  Master  had 
been  striving  to  make  him  a  naturalized  citizen! 

The  materialistic  appraisement  of  all  the  current  values 
is  too  much  with  us,  late  and  soon.  Getting  and  spending, 
w^e  lay  waste  our  powers.  In  a  certain  city  where  I  was 
formerly  a  pastor  the  fact  was  brought  out  that  the  alder- 
man from  a  certain  ward  had  sold  his  vote  on  a  certain 
important  question  for  five  thousand  dollars.  The  citizens 
of  that  ward  held  an  indignation  meeting  the  following 
week  where  his  action  was  hotly  discussed.  And  one  fervent 
orator,  without  realizing  the  humor  of  his  outburst,  ex- 
claimed: "Think  of  this  ward  being  represented  by  a  man 
who  could  be  bought  for  five  thousand  dollars!  We  ought 
to  have  a  man  to  represent  us  who  could  not  be  bought  for 
less  than  fifty  thousand  dollars!  "  His  habit  of  monetary 
appraisement  was  too  much  for  him,  even  in  his  higher 
moods  of  patriotism. 

The  defense  offered  by  Judas  was  that  the  price  of  the 
ointment  might  have  been  given  to  the  poor.  It  was  the 
Master's  custom  to  bid  men  serve  him  by  serving  his  need- 
ier fellows.  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  the  least 
of  these,  the  hungry,  the  naked,  the  sick,  the  imprisoned, 
ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  But  he  would  remind  them 
that  the  opportunity  for  this  humane  service  was  con- 
stantly before  them,  while  the  chance  to  show  their  per- 
sonal affection  for  him  was  passing.  "  The  poor  ye  have 
always  with  you  —  Me  ye  have  not  always." 

The  humanitarian  and  utilitarian  aspects  of  conduct  are 


486  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

not  to  blind  us  to  the  worth  of  those  actions  which  are 
mainly  or  solely  matters  of  sentiment.  It  is  good  for  a 
woman  to  allow  a  man  to  see  sometimes  how  much  she 
loves  him  by  some  gracious  attention  which  neither  feeds 
nor  clothes  him.  It  is  good  for  a  husband  to  remember 
that  his  wife  appreciates  the  bouquet  on  the  table  of 
affection  as  he  spreads  it  for  her  almost  as  much  as  she 
does  the  roast  beef. 

"  She  hath  wrought  a  beautiful  "  —  that  was  the  word 
he  used  —  "she  hath  wrought  a  beautiful  work  on  me." 
The  ministry  of  art  has  its  standing  in  the  house  of  the 
Lord  no  less  than  the  ministry  of  humane  service  rendered 
according  to  scientific  principles.  The  man  who  shoes  the 
horse  or  shoes  the  poor  is  not  to  say  to  the  man  who 
paints  pictures  or  writes  verses,  "  I  have  no  use  for  you." 
And  similarly  the  man  who  revels  in  Browning  is  not  to 
sneer  at  the  man  who  never  heard  of  Sordello,  but  has 
helped  to  clean  up  the  city.  There  are  diversities  of  opera- 
tions by  the  same  Spirit  and  there  are  differences  of  ad- 
ministration by  the  same  Lord. 

And  even  our  ministry  to  the  poor  is  not  to  become 
solely  utilitarian.  The  poor  do  not  live  by  cash  alone. 
They  are  not  mere  backs  and  bellies  to  be  clothed  and 
filled.  They  are  minds  and  hearts  and  souls.  They  have 
imagination,  sensibility,  aspiration  which  crave  their  meat 
at  the  hands  of  thoughtful,  kindly  interest.  The  charity 
expert  who  has  never  sensed  the  fragrance  of  Mary's 
alabaster  box  is  grossly  incompetent  for  his  high  task. 
Let  him  read  the  "  Survey  "  if  he  will,  but  let  him  read 
also  the  Fourth  Gospel. 

The  building  of  a  noble  church  structure  to  stand  per- 
haps for  centuries  as  an  object  of  admiration;  the  filling 
of  a  park  or  a  public  garden  with  flowers;  the  placing  of 
long  rows  of   books   filled   with   visions   and   dreams  of  a 


THE  LIFE  ETERNAL  487 

larger  world  of  wisdom  on  shelves  easy  of  access  to  all 
hands;  the  hanging  of  beautiful  canvases  on  the  walls  of 
a  public  art  gallery  —  all  these  are  services  rendered  to 
the  poor,  no  less  to  be  taken  into  account  than  the  output 
of  the  soup  kitchen  and  the  free  dispensary. 

And  the  very  extravagance,  not  to  say  recklessness,  of  a 
generous  action  ofttimes  adds  to  its  power  of  appeal. 
The  pouring  out  of  seventy-five  dollars'  worth  of  perfume 
on  the  head  of  him  whom  she  loved  caused  this  woman's 
devotion  to  be  spoken  of  throughout  the  world  wherever 
the  gospel  is  preached.  The  uncalculating  element  in  genu- 
ine devotion  is  one  of  the  elements  of  its  strength. 

We  have  all  been  thrilled  by  those  lines  on  **The  Charge 
of  the  Light  Brigade."  "It  is  a  brave  description  of  a 
brave  ride,"  as  Myron  Reed  once  said.  "  The  colonel  got 
his  order,  gathered  the  bridle  rein  and  swung  himself 
into  the  saddle,  saying,  '  Here  goes  the  last  of  the  Cardi- 
gans and  thirteen  thousand  pounds  a  year.'  When  a  man 
is  the  eldest  son  of  a  lord  and  has  an  income  of  sixty-five 
thousand  dollars  a  year  coming  to  him  by  and  by,  that 
means  a  good  deal  to  lose.  When  he  is  called  to  lay  all  this 
down  for  the  sake  of  a  forlorn  hope  against  guns  double- 
shotted,  and  obeys  instantly,  he  is  a  good  deal  of  a  soldier." 

Some  one  has  said  of  that  charge,  "  It  was  magnificent 
but  it  was  not  war."  I  am  not  so  sure  about  that  —  if 
all  the  heroism  and  devotion  in  the  world  directly  inspired 
by  "  the  immortal  six  hundred  "  could  be  finally  added  up 
in  the  day  of  judgment,  it  might  easily  appear  that  the  six 
hundred  made  a  royal  investment  of  their  lives.  The  un- 
happy croak,  "  To  what  purpose  is  this  waste  ?  "  would  be 
instantly  refuted. 

*'  Theirs  not  to  make  reply, 
Theirs  not  to  reason  why, 
Theirs  but  to  do  and  die 
Noble  six  hundred." 


488  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

The  higher  standards  of  value  are  clearly  brought  out 
in  this  lesson.  The  sheer  beauty  of  some  act  of  unselfish 
devotion  may  serve  to  keep  it  alive  in  the  memory  of  the 
race,  a  potent  influence  for  good,  long  after  the  findings  of 
a  monetary  trial  balance  have  been  forgotten.  The 
"  waste  "  is  not  to  be  assessed  against  the  one  who  in- 
vests his  life  in  a  worthy  cause  but  against  the  one  who  in 
"  saving  "  himself  loses  himself. 

The  book  of  Numbers  is  not  one  of  the  great  books  of 
the  Bible.  There  are  more  exact  sciences  than  that  of 
mathematics  when  we  reckon  up  the  enduring  values  in 
human  experience.  The  pastor  does  well  not  to  take  his 
text  too  often  from  that  book  of  Numbers.  Let  the 
Lord  foot  up  and  announce  the  number  of  conversions  each 
year  —  he  knows  how  many  of  them  were  conversions. 
Let  the  Lord  who  watched  the  people  casting  their  gifts 
into  the  treasury  and  placed  the  only  accurate  appraise- 
ment given  upon  the  two  mites  of  the  poor  widow,  give  the 
final  footings  in  the  benevolent  offerings  of  the  Church. 
Let  the  Lord  who  knows,  place  his  own  evaluation  upon 
the  final  worth  of  the  woman's  box  of  alabaster. 


LXXXI 

THE  LAST  SUPPER 

Mark  14  :  12-25 

The  hour  had  come  for  the  eating  of  the  Passover.  The 
last  observance  for  Jesus  and  for  his  disciples  of  that  an- 
cient Jewish  rite  which  looked  back  to  the  divine  mercy  in 
the  past!  The  first  observance  for  him  and  for  them 
of  that  sublime  Christian  rite  opening  upon  a  glorious 
future  filled  with  the  same  divine  mercy! 

He  directed  his  disciples  to  enter  the  city  and  "  follow 
a  man  bearing  a  pitcher  of  water."  The  man  would  be 
easily  recognizable,  for  the  bringing  of  water  for  household 
uses  was  woman's  w^ork.  The  unknown  man  may  have 
been  a  servant  in  the  house  to  which  he  would  uncon- 
sciously guide  the  two  disciples.  "  The  unknown  man  "  — 
no,  not  unknown,  for  he  was  known  to  Christ,  who  had  a 
work  for  him  to  do.  By  his  modest,  inconspicuous  service 
as  he  bore  his  water  pot  through  the  crowded  street  he 
fitted  into  that  plan  of  grace  which  reached  across  the  ages 
for  our  redemption. 

They  were  to  follow  this  man  with  the  pitcher  into  the 
house  where  he  entered,  saying  to  the  owner  of  the  house: 
"The  Master  saith.  Where  is  the  guest  chamber  where  I 
shair  eat  the  Passover  with  my  disciples?  And  he  shall 
shew  you  a  large  upper  room,  furnished.  There  make 
ready." 

The  house  in  Palestine  as  a  rule  is  a  simple  affair,  small, 
flat-roofed,  one-storied.  But  here  was  a  man  whose  house 
was  more  spacious  —  it  had  in  it  an  upper  room,  a  large 
spare   chamber,    "  the  guest   chamber,"    furnished   for   hos- 

489 


490  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

pitality.  The  man's  house  and  his  disposition  were  both 
known  to  the  Master,  who  arranged  for  the  paschal  feast 
at  the  home  of  this  friend. 

"  He  shall  shew  you  a  large  upper  room "  —  a  room 
somewhat  away  from  the  noise  and  dust  of  the  busy  street ; 
a  room  above  the  touch  and  power  of  those  things  which 
are  of  the  earth  earthy;  a  room  lifted  higher  than  the  one- 
storied  houses  adjacent,  giving  it  a  wider  outlook  across  the 
broad  areas  of  human  life;  a  room  abutting  directly  upon 
the  blue  sky  and  upon  all  the  forces  of  the  upper  air. 
He  shall  shew  you  that  finer  opportunity  here  symbolized 
in  the  upper  room  —  enter  and  make  ready  for  the  august 
experiences  awaiting  you! 

"  His  disciples  went  forth  and  came  into  the  city  and 
found  as  he  had  said  unto  them."  This  was  the  second 
time  that  week  where  the  fact  is  noted  that  they  found  it 
just  as  Jesus  had  said.  His  words  had  a  way  of  fulfilling 
themselves  in  the  progress  of  events.  The  man  who  moves 
ahead  as  the  word  of  Christ  points  will  not  be  sent  on 
fool's  errands  nor  be  led  into  blind  alleys. 

"  In  the  evening  he  cometh  with  the  Twelve."  While 
they  were  eating  the  paschal  lamb  with  the  bitter  herbs 
and  the  unleavened  bread,  all  of  them  symbolic  of  experi- 
ences sacred  and  significant  in  the  history  of  that  Jewish 
race,  he  suddenly  exclaimed,  "  One  of  you  shall  betray 
me."  It  was  like  the  dropping  of  a  Lyddite  shell  into  their 
midst,  destroying  the  whole  atmosphere  of  peace. 

"  They  began  to  be  sorrowful."  His  own  sad  fate  there 
indicated  touched  their  hearts  with  a  sense  of  alarm  and 
foreboding.  The  thought  of  such  treachery  in  the  inner 
circle  of  his  friends  humiliated  them.  It  became  a  time  of 
heart-searching.  And  every  man  of  them,  one  after  an- 
other, looked  straight  into  his  own  heart  and  then  into  the 
eyes  of  compassion,  saying,  "  Lord,  is  it  I?  " 


THE  LIFE   ETERNAL  491 

What  a  testimony  to  the  genuineness  of  the  moral  fiber 
in  the  eleven  that  not  a  man  of  them  inquired,  "  Is  it 
hasty,  impulsive,  fickle  Peter?  "  "  Is  it  the  hot-headed,  in- 
tense, vindictive  John? "  "Is  it  Judas,  cold,  calculating 
and  secretive?  "  No  man  cast  an  eye  of  suspicion  upon 
his  fellow  —  every  man  searched  his  own  heart  for  the 
possibility  of  moral  lapse.  Out  of  such  honest  material 
men  can  be  framed  worthy  to  sit  upon  thrones  of  spiritual 
leadership. 

"  It  is  one  of  the  Twelve,"  Jesus  replied.  And  that 
was  the  tragedy  of  it.  One  of  the  Twelve!  We  are  not 
surprised  at  the  brutality  of  the  Roman  soldiers  nor  at  the 
hateful  bigotry  of  the  ruling  ecclesiastics  nor  at  the  crass 
indifference  of  the  jeering  multitudes.  But  the  Twelve! 
They  had  for  three  years  been  the  recipients  of  a  trans- 
cendent care  and  nurture.  We  are  amazed  that  any  man 
of  them  could  show  himself  so  base  and  ungrateful.  "  The 
Son  of  Man  goeth  as  it  is  written  of  him"  —  written  in 
their  own  Scriptures  and  written  in  the  hard  unresponsive- 
ness of  the  human  heart  — "  but  alas  for  that  man  by 
whom  the  Son  of  Man  is  betrayed!  "  His  word  was  not 
one  of  denunciation  but  of  infinite  compassion  for  such 
moral  blindness. 

Then  he  took  bread  and  blessed  it  and  broke  it,  giving 
a  bit  to  each  of  them,  saying:  "  Take,  eat.  This  is  my 
body."  Likewise  4ie  took  the  cup  and  when  he  had  given 
thanks  he  gave  it  to  them,  saying,  "  Drink  ye  all  of  it; 
this  is  my  blood." 

It  would  seem  impossible  for  any  open  mind  to  be  mis- 
led here  into  a  crude  literal  use  of  these  bold  metaphors. 
Jesus  was  indicating  in  the  manner  habitual  with  him  in 
all  his  teaching  that  the  quality  of  life  he  had  manifested 
before  them  in  flesh  and  blood  was  not  to  be  admired  and 
adored  alone  —  it  was  to  be  imparted  and  assimilated  as 


492  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

food  is  assimilated.  Those  men  were  to  feed  upon  him 
even  as  they  were  eating  the  bread  and  drinking  the  wine 
which  he  employed  as  symbols  of  the  life-qualities  he  would 
have  them  make  their  own.  He  put  it  vividly  and  in  con- 
crete form  rather  than  in  cautious  abstract  terms  because 
he  was  an  Oriental  as  they  were  Orientals.  This  method 
of  imparting  truth  w^as  habitual  with  him. 

How  significant  it  is  that  the  two  sacraments  accepted 
by  all  branches  of  the  Christian  Church,  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper,  rest  back  upon  the  two  most  common  acts 
of  every-day  life,  washing  and  eating.  This  was  char- 
acteristic of  Christ's  whole  m.ethod.  He  would  invest  the 
commonest  acts  with  sacramental  significance  and  efficacy. 
He  would  have  the  usual  and  habitual  hallowed  by  higher 
associations  and  made  symbolic  of  august  spiritual  experi- 
ences. 

The  disciples  found  in  that  upper  room  of  privilege  a 
certain  sacred  observance.  As  the  old  feast  was  merged 
into  the  new  under  the  skilled  and  holy  hands  of  their 
Lord,  it  took  on  a  deeper  meaning.  They  felt,  indeed,  that 
what  is  divine  in  the  realm  of  the  Spirit  was  not  merely 
to  be  reverenced  and  worshiped  —  it  was  to  be  shared, 
imparted,  appropriated  by  them  as  branches  of  the  true 
vine.  The  minds  of  those  men  rose  to  the  thought  of  a 
splendid  experience  when  he  said:  "This  is  my  body. 
This  is  my  blood."  Their  souls  opened  wide  to  be  fed  and 
quickened  by  that  which  he  offered.  There  came  a  sense 
of  awe  and  of  humility,  of  yearning  and  of  aspiration  such 
as  they  had  never  known  before. 

They  found  also  in  that  upper  room  more  searching 
standards  of  conduct.  "  One  of  you  shall  betray  me." 
His  words  included  more  than  the  mere  physical  act  of 
driving  a  bargain  with  his  enemies  and  in  return  for  thirty 
pieces  of  silver   pointing  him   out  in   the  darkness  of  the 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  493 

Garden  where  he  had  gone  to  pray.  It  included  that  act 
of  the  soul  when  it  delivers  over  the  inner  capacity  for  a 
life  like  his  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies.  The  lack  of 
fidelity  to  those  higher  impulses  which  he  implants  in 
every  heart  not  utterly  closed  against  him  is  betrayal. 
The  real  sin  of  betrayal  lies  in  the  readiness  to  put  that 
finer  quality  of  life  he  came  to  impart  at  the  mercy  of 
the  coarse  representatives  of  evil. 

The  disciples  were  facing  not  the  easy  conventions  of 
society  nor  the  mere  tithing  of  mint,  anise  and  cummin  by 
obedience  to  those  commonplace  rules  which  keep  men  out- 
wardly decent  —  they  were  facing  standards  so  high  that 
they  could  not  see  over  them.  They  were  standing  in  the 
presence  of  those  great  right  things,  the  weightier  matters 
of  the  law,  imbedded  in  the  words  and  in  the  life  of  their 
Lord. 

They  found  themselves  also  in  the  full  enjoyment  of 
the  most  exalted  fellowship.  The  center  of  interest  for 
them  was  not  in  the  lamb  and  the  bitter  herbs  of  the  old 
feast,  nor  in  the  bread  and  wine  of  the  new.  The  center 
of  interest  was  Christ  himself.  He  proclaimed  the  gospel 
to  them  —  he  was  the  gospel.  He  was  God's  good  news 
to  their  inmost  souls. 

We  have  sore  need  of  that  upper  room.  The  complexity 
of  business  life  loads  the  man  of  affairs  with  problems 
in  such  a  way  as  to  almost  banish  the  mood  for  devotion. 
The  ceaseless  round  of  social  gayeties  becomes  for  many  a 
woman  a  large  house  all  on  the  ground  floor  with  no  rooms 
abutting  on  the  sky.  The  elaborate  courses  of  study  in 
high  school  and  college  with  a  hundred  other  interests  on 
the  side  often  militate  against  the  growth  of  a  definite, 
clear-cut  Christian  life  for  the  student.  We  have  constant 
need  of  that  upper  room  as  a  place  of  spiritual  privilege. 

When   they  had   finished   the  meal,   Jesus  said,    "  I   will 


494  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

drink  no  more  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine  until  that  day  when 
I  drink  it  new  in  the  Kingdom  of  God."  There  was  a 
note  of  sadness  as  he  contemplated  the  severance  of  those 
dear  associations  coupled  with  a  note  of  gladness  as  he 
looked  ahead  to  the  higher  joys  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom. 
"  And  when  they  had  sung  a  hymn,  they  went  out." 
It  was  all  done  decently  and  in  order.  The  symbols  of 
sacrifice  and  then  the  expression  of  joy!  The  cross  of  pain 
and  then  the  crown  of  victory!  "  In  some  strange,  sweet 
way  when  in  the  hour  of  sacrifice  we  have  drawn  the 
shades  to  brood  in  the  darkness  of  our  souls,  the  light  of 
holy  joy  bursts  in  and  the  hand  of  faith  sets  all  the  chords 
of  the  heart  vibrating  with  the  praise  of  God." 


LXXXII 
THE  LONELINESS  OF  CHRIST 

Mark  14  :  32-42 

"  And  they  came  to  a  place  named  Gethsemane."  It 
seems  to  have  been  an  olive  orchard,  a  private  inclosure, 
but  during  the  Paschal  season  houses  and  gardens  at  Jeru- 
salem were  open  to  strangers.  There  is  today  a  plot  of 
ground  just  across  the  brook  Kidron  surrounded  by  a  wall 
having  within  it  eight  old  olive  trees.  They  seem  so  old 
that  some  suppose  they  are  the  very  trees  on  which  our 
Lord  may  have  looked.  They  stand  there  "  in  the  majesty 
of  their  age  and  the  pathos  of  their  decay,  the  most 
venerable  of  their  race  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  their 
gnarled  trunks  and  scanty  foliage  causing  them  to  be  re- 
garded as  the  most  affecting  of  the  sacred  memorials  about 
Jerusalem." 

Here  Jesus  went  the  night  before  his  crucifixion  to  pray. 
He  had  seen  the  hollowness  of  that  popular  enthusiasm 
which  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  shouted,"  Hosanna," 
and  before  the  week  was  done  swelled  the  cry  that  he  be 
crucified.  He  had  seen  the  deadness  of  the  national 
church  —  with  all  its  glorious  traditions  of  divine  mercy 
in  the  past  and  with  the  divine  oracles  in  its  hands,  it  did 
not  know  the  things  that  belonged  to  its  peace.  He  had 
celebrated  the  Last  Supper  with  the  Twelve,  imparting 
to  them  of  his  very  life,  yet  knowing  that  they  would  go 
forth,  one  to  betray  him  and  another  to  deny  him  before 
cock  crow.  It  was  an  hour  when  defeat  and  disappoint- 
ment seemed   to   mass   them.selves   above   the   horizon   like 

495 


496  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

great  black  clouds  shutting  out  his  vision  of  the  stars. 
He  went  alone  in  the  darkness  to  pray. 

He  took  with  him  into  the  Garden  the  three  closest 
friends  he  had,  Peter  and  James  and  John,  the  same  three 
who  had  been  with  him  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration 
and  in  the  chamber  of  death  at  Jairus'  house,  sharing 
with  him  many  an  hour  of  high  privilege  and  of  special 
intimacy.  He  said  to  them,  "  Tarry  ye  here  and  watch, 
while  I  go  yonder  and  pray." 

You  know  the  feeling.  In  your  own  hour  of  distress 
when  you  were  racked  by  pain  or  torn  with  mental  an- 
guish, it  was  a  source  of  comfort  to  know  that  some  one 
who  loved  you  was  near,  awake  and  sympathetic.  "  We 
know  what  a  relief  it  is  to  see  the  honest,  affectionate  face 
of  a  menial  servant  regretting  that  your  suffering  may  be 
infinitely  above  his  poor  comprehension.  It  may  be  a 
secret  v/hich  you  cannot  impart  to  him  or  it  may  be  a 
mental  distress  which  his  mind  is  unable  to  appreciate, 
yet  still  his  sympathy  in  your  dark  hour  is  worth  a  world." 

The  Master  left  the  three  friends  to  watch  while  he  went 
a  stone's  cast  into  the  darkness  of  the  lonely  garden  to 
pray.  When  he  returned  presently  he  found  them  all 
asleep.  '  How  thoughtless  and  selfish  they  seemed!  He 
shook  his  head  over  the  weakness  of  their  devotion.  "Could 
ye  not  watch  with  me  one  hour?  "  He  addressed  the 
leader  of  the  group,  "  Simon  "  —  using  the  old  name  of 
the  fickle,  unrenewed  man  rather  than  "  Peter,"  the  new 
name  of  grace,  which  foretold  the  final  emergence  of  a  man 
possessed  of  the  steadfast  fidelity  of  a  great  rock —  "Simon, 
sleepest  thou?  "  There  were  his  three  closest  friends  ap- 
parently indifferent  to  his  agony. 

He  was  destined  to  tread  the  wine-press  alone.  His 
experience  is  typal  and  representative  —  the  hard-fought 
battles  of  life  are  commonly  fought  out  alone.     The  fiercest 


THE  LIFE   ETERNAL  497 

struggle  comes  not  where  men  are  marching  in  long  ranks 
with  drums  beating,  flags  flying  and  shouts  of  victory  burst- 
ing from  ten  thousand  throats.  The  hardest  battles  are 
fought  where  some  soul  faces  its  own  doubts,  its  own  sins, 
its  own  sorrows,  its  own  defeats,  struggling  with  them 
alone. 

Jacob  at  Jabbok  ford  was  left  alone  to  wrestle  all  night 
until  the  breaking  of  the  day  brought  a  new  name  and  a 
new  nature.  Elijah,  turning  from  the  fickle  people  who 
halted  between  two  opinions,  was  left  alone  under  the 
juniper  tree  to  face  the  apparent  defeat  of  God's  cause  in 
Israel.  John  the  Baptist,  mighty  when  he  faced  the  mul- 
titudes, was  by  the  wickedness  of  Herod  left  to  eat  out 
his  heart  alone  in  prison  —  his  despair  voicing  itself  in 
that  plaintive  query  addressed  to  Christ,  "  Art  thou  he 
that  should  come,  or  do  we  look  for  another?  "  How  much 
each  man  of  them  needed  the  help  of  watchful  sympathy  — 
and  even  the  Son  of  Man  was  not  exempt.  "  Could  ye  not 
watch  with  me?  " 

But  he  accepted  the  inevitable — "Sleep  on  now  and 
take  your  rest."  The  chance  to  serve  him  in  that  hour  of 
sore  need  was  gone,  forever  gone  into  what  the  famous 
English  preacher  called  "  The  Irreparable  Past."  The  hour 
had  come  when  wakening  would  be  of  no  avail.  The  door 
of  opportunity  was  now  shut  and  the  three  men  had  failed 
to  go  in. 

In  that  hour  of  loneliness  and  pain  the  Master  prayed, 
"  O  my  Father,  if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from 
me."  It  was  a  terrible  cup  that  was  being  put  into  the 
hands  of  one  who  came  craving  only  the  opportunity  to 
preach  good  tidings  to  the  poor,  to  heal  the  broken-hearted, 
to  bring  deliverance  to  the  captives  and  to  set  at  liberty 
them  that  were  bruised.  His  enemies  on  the  morrow  would 
have  their  way  with  him  as  if  he  were  the  vilest  of  men  — 


498  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

as  if  there  were  no  moral  order.  They  would  mock  his 
claims  and  scorn  his  leadership;  they  would  spit  upon  him 
and  nail  him  to  a  cross  to  die  between  two  thieves.  His 
benign  nature  instinctively  cried  out,  "If  it  be  possible, 
let  this  cup  pass." 

But  the  cup  did  not  pass  —  he  was  constrained  to  drink 
it  to  the  last  dregs.  And  in  that  hour  of  heartfelt  appeal 
to  high  heaven,  he  felt  that  it  would  be  so.  And  then  at 
last  the  prayer  came:  "  Not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt. 
If  this  cup  may  not  pass  from  me  except  I  drink  it,  thy 
will  be  done."  And  herein  lies  the  highest  answer  to 
prayer  —  not  in  patient  acquiescence  and  resignation  to 
something  which  we  are  powerless  to  avert  but  in  high 
resolve  to  go  forth  and  do  that  perfect  will  now  seen  and 
accepted  through  the  clearer  light  and  holier  purpose 
achieved  by  prayer. 

"  Prayer  is  not  offered  to  deflect  God's  will  to  yours, 
but  to  adjust  your  will  to  his,"  says  Francis  G.  Peabody. 
"  When  a  ship's  captain  is  setting  out  on  a  voyage  he  first 
of  all  adjusts  his  compasses,  corrects  their  divergence  and 
counteracts  the  influences  which  draw  the  needle  from  the 
pole.  Well,  that  is  prayer.  It  is  the  adjustment  of  the 
compass  of  the  soul;  it  is  the  restoration  from  deflection; 
it  is  the  pointing  of  it  to  the  will  of  God.  And  the  soul 
which  thus  sails  forth  into  the  sea  of  life  finds  itself  — 
not  indeed  freed  from  all  storms  of  the  spirit,  but  at  least 
sure  of  its  direction  through  them  all." 

The  claim  has  been  made  that  if  we  have  faith  when  we 
pray,  we  can  get  anything  we  want.  Jesus  had  faith.  He 
prayed,  "  Let  this  cup  pass  from  me."  It  did  not  pass  — 
he  drank  it  next  day  upon  the  cross.  But  he  prayed  until 
he  could  say,  "  Nevertheless,  if  I  must  .  .  .  not  my  will 
but  thine  be  done."  The  high  office  of  prayer  is  not  to 
enable  a  man  to  stand  before  God  saying,   "  Not  as  thou 


THE  LIFE   ETERNAL  499 

wilt  but  as  I  will."  Its  high  office  is  to  bring  a  man  into 
such  harmony  with  God  that  he  will  say  not  passively  but 
actively  and  courageously,  '*  Thy  will  be  done."  And  that 
of  itself  is  a  mighty  answer.  What  better  result  could 
come  than  for  the  soul  to  be  made  able  to  stand  before 
the  Eternal  saying,  "  Thy  will  be  done." 

Jesus  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  the  clamorous, 
insistent  type  of  prayer,  intent  upon  securing  its  own  ends, 
would  pass.  "In  that  day  ye  shall  ask  me  nothing." 
The  petitionary  element  would  be  overshadowed  by  the 
sense  of  holy  companionship.  When  a  man  prays  he  is  in 
the  highest  company  open  to  him.  The  very  fact  that  he 
is  there  in  the  rich  enjoyment  of  such  high  privilege  is  in 
itself  a  great  reward  for  his  action  in  offering  his  prayer. 

'*  Arise,  let  us  be  going,"  Jesus  said  when  he  had  prayed 
the  third  time.  And  he  went  forth  not  now  to  be  minis- 
tered unto  but  to  minister  at  the  altar  of  sacrifice,  giving 
his  life  a  ransom  for  many. 

We  have  no  portrait  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  He  lived 
before  the  days  of  cameras.  How  much  it  would  mean  if 
we  could  actually  look  upon  his  face  not  as  outlined  by  the 
ecclesiastical  imaginings  of  mediaeval  artists  painting  altar- 
pieces  for  the  churches,  but  as  he  was! 

If  we  could  take  the  faces  of  all  the  men  and  women 
who  have  entered  upon  their  moral  struggles  feeling  them- 
selves alone  but  coming  through  their  very  agony  into  a 
new  sense  of  companionship  with  the  Father;  if  we  could 
summon  all  the  fathers  who  have  patiently  borne  with 
vicious  sons  that  they  might  win  them  from  their  wrong- 
doings; if  we  could  take  all  the  faithful  wives,  disheartened 
but  not  destroyed  by  their  sense  of  disappointment,  cling- 
ing to  husbands  who  had  shown  themselves  unfaithful 
that  they  might  share  with  Christ  the  joy  of  moral  re- 
covery;   if  we  could  bring  all  the  people  who  have  been 


500  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

loyal  to  their  friends  through  good  report  and  evil  report, 
giving  of  their  best  and  suffering  loss  that  good  might  come 
to  those  other  lives  —  if  we  could  bring  all  these  faces 
together  and  take  a  composite  photograph  of  them,  when 
the  last  bit  of  human  sympathy  and  unselfishness  had 
registered  itself  upon  that  sensitive  plate,  we  should  have 
there  the  perfect  face  of  the  Christ. 

Dewdrops  shine  like  diamonds  in  the  early  morning  be- 
cause they  reflect  the  sun.  And  human  hearts  massed 
together  by  such  experiences  in  fighting  heroically  the  moral 
battles  of  the  world,  likewise  reflect  the  glory  of  God  as 
seen  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 


LXXXIII 
THE  MAN  WHO  MIGHT  HAVE  BEEN 

Matt.  26  :  14-25,  47,  50;   27  :  3-10 

The  story  of  Judas  is  a  study  in  religious  privilege. 
Here  was  a  life  admitted  into  the  closest  intimacy  with  the 
Highest  who  ever  walked  the  earth,  yet  going  out  in  the 
darkness  of  treachery,  remorse  and  suicide.  His  fate  brings 
home  to  every  heart  an  effective  reminder  that  great  relig- 
ious privileges  do  not  insure  a  man  against  final  spiritual 
ruin. 

"  Now  the  names  of  the  twelve  apostles  are  these  — 
Simon  and  Andrew;  James  and  John;  Philip  and  Bartholo- 
mew; Thomas  and  Matthew;  James,  the  son  of  Alphseus, 
and  Thaddeus;  Simon  the  Zealot  and  Judas  Iscariot,  who 
also  betrayed  him."     He  was  indeed  "  one  of  the  Twelve." 

We  are  familiar  with  all  the  stock  questions.  Why  did 
Jesus  choose  Judas  in  the  first  place?  Did  he  know  that 
Judas  would  prove  a  traitor?  When  he  found  that  Judas 
was  playing  false  why  did  he  not  instantly  expel  him  from 
the  company  of  the  Twelve?  Did  the  disciples  really 
believe  that  he  was  "  a  thief  "  when  he  complained  that 
the  precious  ointment  was  not  sold  for  three  hundred 
pence?  Was  Judas  false  from  the  first,  following  Christ 
from  some  ulterior  motive?  Was  there  some  redeeming 
motive  underlying  his  readiness  to  betray  Christ  into  the 
hands  of  his  enemies? 

It  is  impossible  to  dogmatize  upon  the  psychology  of  a 
man  so  far  removed  from  our  scrutiny  as  is  Judas.  It  is 
impossible  for  us  to  judge  his  acts  in  any  hard  and  fast 

501 


502  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

way  with  such  meager  data  regarding  his  mental  and  moral 
processes.  It  would  seem  reasonable  to  suppose  that  Judas 
entered  upon  his  discipleship  with  as  much  sincerity  as  any 
of  the  Twelve.  It  would  be  a  mockery  to  think  that 
"  Jesus  continued  all  night  in  prayer  and  when  it  was  day 
chose  "  a  man  who  was  false  at  heart  in  that  very  hour. 

It  is  plain  that  in  the  earlier  period  of  Christ's  ministry 
his  fellow-disciples  trusted  Judas.  They  elected  him  trea- 
surer —  men  do  not  commonly  intrust  the  money  bag  to 
a  "  suspect."  They  do  not  select  for  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  a  man  concerning  whose  honesty  they  feel 
uncertain. 

Even  after  Judas  had  approached  the  chief  priests  and 
when  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  were  weighing  down  his 
pocket  as  so  much  lead,  the  eleven  did  not  suspect  him  of 
treachery.  When  Jesus  said  at  the  last  supper,  "  One  of 
you  shall  betray  me,"  it  did  not  occur  to  any  one  of  them 
to  say,  "Is  it  Judas?  "  They  were  dumbfounded.  But 
every  man  turned  his  eyes  within,  meditating  upon  the  la- 
tent possibilities  of  unfaithfulness  in  his  own  heart.  Every 
man  of  them  said,  "  Lord,  is  it  I?  " 

The  narrative  indicates  that  the  definite  moral  lapse  of 
Judas  came  near  the  close  of  Christ's  ministry.  Luke  says, 
near  the  end  of  his  record,  "  Satan  entered  into  Judas 
surnamed  Iscariot  and  he  went  his  way  and  communed 
with  the  chief  priests  how  he  might  betray  him."  Satan 
had  not  been  resident  in  the  wretched  man's  heart  during 
all  those  years  of  fellowship  with  Christ  —  Luke  indicates 
here  a  definite  lapse.  We  must  believe  then  that  Judas 
entered  upon  his  high  privileges  with  sincerity  and  then 
in  the  very  face  of  a  unique  opportunity  for  spiritual  ad- 
vance, became  "  the  son  of  perdition." 

Did  Jesus  know  when  he  chose  him  that  Judas  would 
prove  false?     In  the  interests  of  theological  theory  it  has 


THE  LIFE   ETERNAL  503 

sometimes  been  deemed  necessary  to  assert  that  Jesus 
knew  all  things.  He  expressly  disclaimed  omniscience. 
He  asked  for  information  and  waited  to  receive  it  through 
the  natural  channels.  He  disclaimed  his  knowledge  of  a 
certain  day  and  hour  —  that  knowledge  belonged  only  to 
the  Father.  Had  he  known  in  advance  that  Judas  would 
show  himself  a  traitor,  the  original  selection  would  become 
unreal.  He  apparently  chose  him  as  a  man  of  exceptional 
ability,  giving  him  the  fullest  opportunity  for  life  and 
service  of  the  highest  type  —  it  was  one  of  his  many  ven- 
tures of  faith  and  hope  and  love. 

The  underlying  fault  in  the  man's  make-up  was  a  com- 
mon one  with  his  race  —  he  was  mercenary.  He  was  a 
lover  of  money  more  than  a  lover  of  God.  His  first  ques- 
tion when  he  faced  the  chief  priests  was,  "  What  will  you 
give  me  and  I  will  betray  him?  " 

How  many  times  we  hear  that  ugly  note  in  the  speech 
of  those  ancient  Hebrews?  "  Sell  me  this  day  thy  birth- 
right "  —  and  taking  advantage  of  his  brother's  extremity 
the  crafty  Jacob  got  it  at  a  bargain.  When  Joseph  is 
lying  in  the  pit  and  the  caravan  comes  along,  hear  Judah 
reasoning  in  this  thrifty  fashion  —  "What  profit  is  it  if  we 
slay  our  brother?  Let  us  sell  him  to  the  Ishmaelites." 
Hear  Peter  with  this  sordid  inquiry  on  his  lips  — "  We 
have  forsaken  all  and  followed  thee.  What  shall  we  have 
therefore?  "  The  Hebrew  was  prone  to  have  his  eye  on 
the  main  chance.  And  Judas  Iscariot  had  a  Benjamin's 
portion  of  that  weakness. 

How  pointed  become  the  warnings  of  Jesus  as  to  the 
peril  of  covetousness  when  we  see  Judas  standing  with  the 
Twelve  hearing  his  Master's  words!  It  may  be  that  Jesus 
saw  the  moral  twist  in  the  man's  nature  when  he  said, 
"  Beware  of  covetousness  —  a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in 
the  abundance  of  the  things  that  he  possesseth."     He  may 


504  THE  MASTER'S   WAY 

have  seen  Judas  looking  greedily  at  the  contents  of  the 
well-worn  bag  when  he  said,  "  Provide  yourselves  bags 
which  wax  not  old;  treasures  of  heavenly  character  which 
fail  not."  He  may  have  seen  this  disciple  intent  upon 
gain  and  halting  at  the  parting  of  the  ways  when  he 
uttered  that  searching  word  — "  No  man  can  serve  two 
masters.     Ye  cannot  serve  God  and  mammon." 

The  motives  of  Judas  in  betraying  his  Lord  have  been 
rigidly  scrutinized.  In  my  judgment  we  may  well  believe 
that  the  unhappy  man  did  believe  that  Jesus  would  in  some 
miraculous  way  extricate  himself  from  the  hands  of  the 
soldiers  —  the  subsequent  action  of  Judas  indicates  as 
much.  And  it  may  be  that  his  worldly  mind  believed  that 
by  his  shrewdness  he  might  hasten  the  setting  up  of  that 
temporal  kingdom  at  Jerusalem  which  in  his  judgment  had 
already  been  too  long  delayed.  He  may  have  felt  that  he 
would  be  thirty  pieces  of  silver  to  the  good,  that  Jesus 
would  in  the  end  suffer  no  hurt,  and  that  out  of  his  plot 
there  might  come  a  swifter  consummation  of  the  ambitions 
of  the  Twelve  touching  that  temporal  kingdom  for  which 
they  were  all  looking.  This  does  not  in  any  wise  remove  or 
even  diminish  the  moral  falsity  of  Judas,  but  it  does  throw 
light  on  what  may  have  been  his  mental  processes. 

When  Jesus  did  not  deliver  himself  but  allowed  himself 
to  be  put  to  death  in  the  most  cruel  and  humiliating  way, 
it  broke  the  heart  of  Judas.  This  would  not  have  been  so 
in  the  case  of  a  man  cold,  insincere  and  cruel  from  the 
start.  He  came  sobbing  into  the  presence  of  the  chief 
priests  with  this  heartfelt  cry,  "  I  have  sinned  in  that  I 
have  betrayed  innocent  blood."  When  they  gave  no  heed 
to  the  moral  tragedy  of  his  life,  turning  away  bluntly 
with  that  brutal  word,  "  What  is  that  to  us?  "  Judas 
cast  down  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  and  went  out  to  hang 
himself.     He   had   not   meant   to   destroy   the   One   Perfect 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  505 

Life  the  world  has  ever  seen,  but  greed  and  stealth  led 
him  into  sharing  in  the  world's  greatest  tragedy  as  a  guilty- 
participant. 

The  spirit  of  avarice  begat  a  treacherous  purpose.  The 
treacherous  purpose  became  the  father  of  an  open  act  of 
betrayal.  The  act  of  betrayal  brought  in  its  train  an  un- 
bearable remorse.  And  the  intolerable  remorse  induced 
suicide.  It  was  an  ugly  flight  of  steps  leading  down  toward 
perdition.  When  once  he  put  his  foot  fairly  and  fully  on 
the  first  step,  he  went  to  the  bottom. 

His  bearing  in  the  face  of  the  awful  consequences  of  his 
deed  awakens  pity  in  our  hearts.  "  I  have  sinned  "  — 
the  same  word  which  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  prodigal  in 
the  presence  of  a  forgiving  father.  "  I  have  betrayed  in- 
nocent blood."  Innocent  blood!  It  was  a  tardy  but  a 
heartfelt  tribute  to  the  moral  perfection  of  the  one  he  had 
wronged.  He  hung  himself,  unable  to  bear  the  burden  of 
guilt  he  now  felt.  We  may  well  remember  that  not  every 
man  who  has  preferred  silver  to  Christ  or  who  has  sold 
his  Christian  principles  to  the  highest  bidder  has  had  the 
grace  to  show  such  sense  of  contrition. 

In  judging  the  character  of  Judas  it  is  wise  for  us  to 
observe  that  principle  of  seriousness  and  of  reserve  which 
found  expression  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  Acts.  "  Judas 
by  transgression  fell  that  he  might  go  to  his  own  place." 
No  effort  was  made  to  describe  or  to  locate  that  ''  place." 
Well  may  we  paraphrase  the  lines  of  Hood  touching  the 
v/retched  woman  who  had  sought  refuge  from  the  horror 
of  her  evil  life  in  the  cold  waters  of  the  Thames. 

"  Owning  his  weakness, 
His  evil  behavior, 
Leaving  with  meekness 
His  sins  to  his  Saviour." 

"Lord,  is  it  I?"     We  are  glad  that  each  man  in  that 


506  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

group  thought  only  of  his  own  liability  to  fall,  casting  no 
eye  of  suspicion  upon  the  moral  prospects  of  his  fellows. 
"  When  the  wind  is  rising  it  is  good  for  each  ship  at  sea 
to  look  to  its  own  ropes  and  sails  and  not  stand  gazing 
to  see  how  ready  the  other  ships  are  to  meet  it.  We  all 
feel  that  we  would  rather  hear  a  man  asking  anxiously 
about  himself  than  to  see  him  so  sure  of  himself  that  the 
question  never  occurs  to  him.  We  should  be  surer  of  his 
standing  firm  if  we  saw  that  he  knew  he  was  in  danger  of 
a  fall." 

"  Search  me,  O  God,  and  know  my  heart.  Try  me  and 
know  my  thoughts.  See  if  there  be  any  wicked  way  in 
me.     And  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting." 

"  Forbear  to  judge,  for  we  are  sinners  all:  — 
Close  up  his  eyes  and  draw  the  curtains  close. 
And  let  us  all  to  meditation." 


LXXXIV 
THE  ARREST  AND  TRIAL  OF  JESUS 

Matt.  26  :  47-68 

He  was  betrayed  by  a  kiss  —  the  sweet  token  of  affec- 
tion degraded  to  the  basest  use!  He  was  taken  by  men 
with  swords  and  staves  —  the  very  presence  of  the  weapons 
an  insult  to  the  peaceful  method  of  his  life.  The  Master 
voiced  his  open  resentment  of  their  action.  "  Are  ye  come 
out  as  against  a  robber  with  swords  and  staves?  "  He  was 
seized  in  the  dark,  his  enemies  bearing  witness  that  their 
foul  deed  would  not  bear  the  light  of  day. 

When  his  foes  first  laid  hands  upon  him  one  of  his 
disciples,  the  ready,  warm-hearted,  impulsive  leader  of  the 
Twelve,  began  to  fight.  He  whipped  out  his  sword  as  he 
had  whipped  out  many  an  ill-considered  word  which 
brought  upon  him  his  Lord's  rebuke.  Before  Jesus  could 
remonstrate  he  had  struck  a  blow,  cutting  off  a  man's  ear 
by  his  ill-directed  thrust  in  the  darkness  of  the  garden. 

Peter  was  headed  wrong.  Not  by  violence  and  blood- 
shed was  that  Kingdom  which  is  to  be  an  everlasting  King- 
dom to  be  established!  '*  Put  up  thy  sword."  The  weap- 
ons of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal  for  the  destroying  of 
men's  lives.  They  are  spiritual  —  instruction,  persuasion, 
moral  appeal,  the  unconstrained  force  of  holy  example  — 
for  the  saving  of  men's  lives.  **  Put  up  thy  sword." 
The  Christian  world  heard  that  injunction  nineteen  hundred 
years  ago,  but  alas  (as  it  has  been  brought  home  to  us  so 
terribly  in  these  recent  months)!  even  those  who  in  the 
high    places   of   earth    proclaim    them.selves    the   chosen    of 

507 


508  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

heaven  and  the  favored  partners  of  the  Almighty  have 
not  learned  that  vital  word. 

"  My  Kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,"  Jesus  said,  "  if 
it  were  my  servants  would  fight."  The  servants  of  the 
Roman  Empire  which  was  even  now  laying  its  sacrilegious 
hands  upon  him  were  accustomed  to  fight.  Might  made 
the  only  right  they  respected.  But  he  was  the  servant  of 
a  higher  method.  He  came  to  establish  an  order  of  life 
where  right  would  constitute  the  only  might;  where  the 
final  arbitrament  would  not  be  that  of  force. 

The  Moslem  may  take  the  sword  —  it  jars  not  with  the 
ideals  of  his  faith.  He  may  go  forth  in  fiery  evangelism, 
his  weapon  in  one  hand,  his  Koran  in  the  other,  offering 
the  reluctant  that  fearful  option  to  coerce  their  acceptance 
of  his  creed.  But  where  Christendom  takes  the  sword 
the  inmost  spirit  of  it  does  in  that  very  act  perish  by  the 
sword. 

The  battles  have  not  all  been  fought.  The  wars  have 
not  all  been  waged.  Stern  necessity  may  thrust  upon  men 
of  honor  the  obligation  of  self-defense  or  of  succor  to 
weaker  interests  beset  by  unprincipled  force.  All  this  but 
serves  to  testify  to  the  moral  distance  still  to  be  traversed. 
We  have  a  long  and  painful  road  to  go  in  securing  the 
prevalence  of  those  principles  which  shall  usher  in  the  day 
when  swords  shall  be  beaten  into  plowshares,  the  bright 
metal  of  young  manhood  shaped  into  productive  rather 
than  destructive  forms;  when  nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword 
against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more. 

Then  came  what  a  great  preacher  has  called  "  The 
Willing  Surrender."  The  Master  had  swords  innumerable 
and  invincible  at  his  command  but  not  one  of  them  would 
be  drawn  in  his  defense.  "  Thlnkest  thou  that  I  cannot 
beseech  my  Father  and  he  shall  even  now  send  me  more 
than   twelve   legions   of   angels."     He   need   not   rely   upon 


THE  LIFE   ETERNAL  509 

the  puny  defense  of  eleven  shuddering  men.  For  every 
man  of  them  Christ  had  within  call  a  legion  of  super- 
human defenders  able  to  smite  his  enemies  to  the  dust. 
He  could  —  but  would  not. 

"  To  give  up  some  precious  thing  which  is  legitimately 
yours;  to  shut  your  eyes  upon  visions  of  glory  or  safety 
or  luxury  which  you  might  make  your  own  without  a 
shade  of  blame,  that  is  so  truly  one  of  the  marks  of 
nobility  that  no  man  is  accounted  by  the  best  standards 
truly  noble  who  is  not  doing  that  in  some  degree.  The 
man  who  is  taking  all  that  he  has  a  right  to  take  in  life 
is  always  touched  with  a  suspicion  and  a  shade  of  base- 
ness." 

Thus  the  Master  was  left  without  defense  by  his  own 
high  choice.  "  All  the  disciples  left  him  and  fled."  The 
legions  remained  unsummoned.  He  was  in  the  hands  of 
his  foes  that  they  might  work  upon  him  their  own  hateful 
will. 

He  was  taken  at  once  to  the  house  of  Caiaphas,  the  high 
priest,  where  the  scribes  and  the  elders  were  gathered  to- 
gether. They  thought  that  they  were  trying  him  —  he 
was  trying  them.  Jesus  before  Caiaphas  —  nay,  rather 
Caiaphas  before  Jesus.  And  how  sadly  Caiaphas  fails  to 
stand  the  test!  "It  is  more  than  a  play  upon  words  to 
render  the  verdict  that  the  high  priest  was  a  low  priest. 
Low  in  the  mad  midnight  haste  whereby  he  attempted  to 
hurry  his  victim  to  his  fate!  Low  in  his  methods  in  secur- 
ing evidence,  caring  not  for  the  truth,  satisfied  with  the 
mere  semblance  of  evidence!  Low  in  his  attempt  to  trick 
the  prisoner  into  some  phrase  that  might  be  distorted  into 
cause  for  condemnation!  Low  in  his  effort,  by  rending  his 
garments  dramatically,  to  force  his  associates  to  concur  in 
his  denunciation." 

And  the  conduct  of  the  trial  —  what  a  grewsome  story 


510  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

it  is!  "  Then  did  they  spit  in  his  face  and  buffet  him. 
Some  smote  him  saying,  Prophesy  unto  us,  thou  Christ  — 
who  struck  thee."  The  prisoner  today  in  all  Christian 
lands  is  treated  with  decency  and  respect.  This  is  one  of 
the  fair  fruits  of  the  order  of  life  introduced  by  him  who 
took  upon  his  sympathetic  heart  the  sad  lot  of  the  ac- 
cused when  he  said,  "  I  was  in  prison  and  ye  visited  me." 

The  right  of  the  accused  to  have  counsel,  the  removal 
of  any  obligation  to  criminate  himself,  the  parole  and 
probation  systems,  the  indeterminate  sentence,  the  gradual 
banishment  of  the  grotesque  garb  and  the  shaved  head 
having  as  their  object  the  making  of  the  prisoner  con- 
temptible in  his  own  eyes  and  the  eyes  of  all,  the  replacing 
of  the  spirit  of  vengeance  by  the  purpose  of  reformation 
in  prison  administration,  the  humane  ministry  of  Maude 
Ballington  Booth  and  of  all  kindred  spirits  —  all  these 
serve  to  mark  the  moral  distance  we  have  traversed  from 
that  rough  scene  in  the  court  of  Caiaphas. 

We  turn  our  eyes  from  the  rabble  in  that  trial  scene, 
who  were  like  the  chaff  which  the  wind  driveth  away,  to 
the  One  who  stood  like  a  tree  planted  by  a  river  of  water, 
bringing  forth  the  fruits  of  the  spirit  in  due  season,  the 
leaves  of  his  matchless  life  unwithered. 

With  what  calmness  and  dignity  did  he  bear  it  all!  He 
was  unmoved,  untouched  by  the  blows  and  the  spittle,  by 
the  words  of  abuse  and  the  injustice  of  their  accusations. 
What  a  plenitude  he  had  of  that  love  which  is  the  ful- 
filling of  the  law.  He  suffered  long  and  was  kind.  He  did 
not  behave  himself  unseemly.  He  was  not  easily  provoked. 
He  had  the  spirit  which  beareth  all  things,  belicveth  all 
things,  hopeth  all  things,  endureth  all  things.  He  had  the 
love  that  never  faileth. 

To  this  end  had  he  come  into  the  world  that  he  might 
bear  witness  to  the  truth  and  manifest  the  Father.     In  the 


THE  LIFE  ETERNAL  511 

foul  surroundings  of  that  rude  court  no  less  than  in  the 
hour  when  he  utters  the  matchless  sayings  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  or  stands  on  Hermon,  his  face  illumined 
with  a  glory  never  seen  on  sea  or  land,  he  will  do  just 
that.  He  will  say  in  the  darkest  hour  of  pain  or  humilia- 
tion, "  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father." 

How  self-controlled  he  was  —  he  who  felt  the  moral 
outrage  of  the  blows,  the  spittle  and  the  vile  words  of 
abuse  as  none  other  could!  He  bore  himself  in  that  superb 
self-restraint  which  denotes  moral  grandeur,  for  greater  is 
he  that  ruleth  his  own  spirit  than  he  that  taketh  a  city. 

They  could  not  humiliate  him  —  they  did  but  humiliate 
themselves  in  the  sight  of  the  ages.  He  had  already  hum- 
bled himself  by  taking  upon  himself  the  form  of  a  servant 
and  becoming  obedient  unto  death,  even  the  death  of  the 
cross.  And  by  that  act  of  self-renunciation  he  was  exalted 
until  his  name  is  above  every  name. 

He  was  poor  in  purse  and  in  earthly  friends  and  in  politi- 
cal influence.  Among  the  rabble  not  one  would  have 
counted  himself  so  poor  as  to  have  done  him  reverence. 
But  the  Master  was  rich  in  principle  and  in  purpose,  in 
the  power  of  moral  appeal  and  in  the  energy  of  a  holy 
life.     He  had  riches  which  they  knew  not  of. 

He  bore  their  insults  and  their  inquiries  in  a  majestic 
silence.  He  was  looking  steadfastly  not  at  the  things  which 
are  seen  but  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen,  knowing 
that  the  things  which  are  seen  are  temporal,  while  the 
things  which  are  unseen  are  eternal.  Finally,  when  Caiaphas 
adjured  him  by  the  living  God  to  declare  whether  or  no  he 
was  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  he  broke  his  silence  with  a 
word  which  has  come  down  through  the  centuries.  It  was 
a  word  to  be  heard  and  heeded  forever  more.  "  Thou  hast 
said  it.  Henceforth  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  at 
the  right  hand  of  power  and  coming  on  the  clouds  of  heaven." 


512  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

The  testimony  is  all  in.  His  own  word  was  what  the 
lawyers  call  "  the  best  evidence."  The  high  priest  ac- 
cording to  rabbinical  requirement  when  blasphemy  was 
proved,  rent  his  garments.  The  church  court  preferred  its 
charge  and  made  ready  to  take  the  prisoner  before  Pilate, 
the  Roman  official.  The  Son  of  Man  is  already  standing 
within  the  shadow  of  the  cross,  serene,  undaunted,  confident. 
He  is  doing  the  Father's  will ;  he  is  manifesting  the  Father's 
spirit. 


LXXXV 

JESUS  AND  PETER 

Mark  14  :  27-31,  53-54,  66-72 

What  a  strange  man  was  this  Peter  —  ardent,  impulsive, 
impetuous!  He  cannot  open  his  lips  without  revealing 
these  uncertain  qualities.  **  Depart  from  me  for  I  am  a 
sinful  man,  O  Lord,"  he  cried  at  one  time,  as  if  thrusting 
away  his  only  hope  of  salvation.  "  Lord,  to  whom  shall 
we  go  —  thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life,"  he  says 
later,  clinging  more  closely  than  all  the  rest.  "  Thou  shalt 
never  wash  my  feet,"  he  says,  protesting  against  the  very 
idea  of  having  the  Lord  render  that  lowly  service  to  him. 
Then  a  moment  later,  fearing  the  loss  of  intimate  contact 
with  Christ,  he  cries,  "  Lord,  not  my  feet  only,  but  my 
hands  and  my  head." 

Here  in  the  lesson  we  find  the  same  instability. 
"  Though  all  men  should  deny  thee,  yet  I  will  never  deny 
thee."  This  was  his  confident  boast  early  in  the  evening. 
Then  before  cockcrow  he  protested  with  an  oath  that  he 
never  knew  the  Master.  Everywhere  the  same  impulsive, 
impetuous  vigor,  now  good,  now  bad,  but  always  intense! 

He  reveals  it  by  his  actions  no  less  than  by  his  words. 
He  falls  asleep  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  when  he 
should  have  been  awake.  Suddenly  awakened,  he  plans 
in  his  misdirected  zeal  to  build  three  tents  to  protect 
Moses  and  Elijah  and  Jesus  from  the  night  air.  He  falls 
asleep  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  when  he  ought  to 
have  been  awake  and  watching.  Suddenly  aroused,  he 
draws  his  sword,  and  with  misdirected  zeal  slashes  off  the 

513 


514  THE    MASTER'S  WAY 

ear  of  a  servant  who  was  standing  near.  He  denied  his 
Lord  thrice  in  a  night,  and  then  on  the  Sea  of  GaHlee, 
learning  that  Jesus  is  on  the  shore,  he  cannot  wait  for  the 
beaching  of  the  boat  —  he  leaps  into  the  water  and  swims 
ashore  to  greet  his  risen  Lord. 

You  may  have  such  an  eager,  intense,  impulsive  nature 
in  your  Sunday-school  class  or  in  your  own  home.  You 
despair  of  ever  making  out  of  him  a  quiet,  thoughtful, 
contemplative  Christian  like  John,  or  an  even-tempered, 
reliable,  methodical  Christian  like  Philip.  It  cannot  be 
done.  You  need  not  break  your  heart  about  it  or  worry 
the  life  out  of  that  Peter-like  soul  in  the  attempt. 

"  There  is  one  glory  of  the  sun  and  another  glory  of  the 
moon  and  another  glory  of  the  stars;  and  one  star  dif- 
fereth  from  another  star  in  glory."  They  are  all  glorious 
but  they  all  differ.  There  is  one  glory  about  a  certain 
type  of  Christian  character  and  another  distinct  glory 
about  a  varying  type.  The  ardent,  impulsive  natures 
under  the  influence  of  divine  grace  show  forth  Christian 
graces  "  after  their  kind."  The  less  picturesque  but  more 
dependable  natures,  under  the  working  of  the  same  Spirit, 
show  forth  spiritual  excellence  in  their  appointed  way. 

Peter  took  his  first  step  toward  a  moral  lapse  that  fateful 
night  by  his  boastfulness  and  self-confidence  —  "Though 
all  should  deny  thee,  yet  will  not  L"  "  Brag  is  a  good  dog 
but  Hold  Fast  is  better  "  —  it  is  a  homely  proverb  but  with 
meat  in  it.  In  statelier  fashion  the  king  of  Israel  said  of 
old,  "  Let  not  him  that  girdeth  on  his  harness  boast  him- 
self as  he  that  putteth  it  off."  Let  Peter  try  his  full 
strength  in  pulling  up  hill  the  moral  load  laid  upon  him; 
then  it  will  be  in  order  for  him  to  speak  confidently  of  his 
prowess. 

The  Master  warned  him  in  the  terms  of  a  picture  which 
those  outdoor  men  had  v/itnessed  a  thousand  times  on  the 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  515 

hillsides  of  Galilee.  He  told  them  that  when  the  shepherd 
was  smitten  the  sheep  would  be  scattered.  But  still  Peter 
loudly  affirmed  his  own  steadfastness  under  fire.  '*  Yet 
will  not  I!  "     Alas,  poor  Peter! 

He  had  some  courage  and  devotion,  for  after  the  arrest 
of  Jesus  he  did  come  to  the  trial  before  Caiaphas.  He 
followed  "  afar  off  "  indeed,  but  he  was  there  when  "  all 
the  other  disciples,"  according  to  the  synoptic  gospels, 
"  had  fled."  They  did  not  come  to  the  trial  at  all.  He 
was  chary  about  showing  his  friendship  for  the  accused; 
he  stood  off  among  the  servants,  warming  himself  after  the 
chill  of  exposure  during  those  hours  when  he  had  been 
asleep  in  the  Garden. 

He  was  suddenly  bowled  over  by  an  unexpected  tempta- 
tion. He  had  been  sleeping  when  he  should  have  been 
watching  and  praying;  now  his  moral  nature  was  relaxed 
and  the  inner  fiber  of  his  soul  had  no  power  of  resistance. 
One  of  the  maidservants  —  it  may  be  in  no  unfriendly 
spirit  —  said  to  him,  "Thou  also  wast  with  the  Naza- 
rene."  But  Peter  replied,  "  I  know  not  what  thou  sayest." 
And  he  went  out  into  the  porch.  Then  another  said  of  him, 
"  This  is  one  of  them."  But  Peter  again  denied  any 
affiliation  with  the  party  which  seemed  to  be  on  the  wane. 
Then  a  moment  later  a  man  said  to  him,  "  Of  a  truth  thou 
art  one  of  them,  for  thou  art  a  Galilean  "  —  his  speech  be- 
trayed him.  Peter  began  to  curse  and  swear.  In  the  name 
of  God  he  denied  any  fellowship  with  Jesus.  At  that 
moment  the  cock  crew  —  and  he  remembered! 

It  would  seem  sometimes  that  the  lower  orders  of  exis- 
tence are  in  league  and  covenant  with  the  Judge  of  all  the 
earth  to  bring  home  to  the  consciences  of  sinning  men  their 
m.oral  lapses.  When  Saul  told  his  ugly  lie,  the  sheep  which 
he  had  promised  to  slay  suddenly  bleated  out  the  truth. 
When   Balaam  was  setting  forth   to  claim   ''  the  wages  of 


516  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

iniquity  "  the  dumb  ass  stubbornly  turned  aside  into  the 
field,  then  jammed  his  foot  against  a  stone  wall  and  then 
fell  down  altogether,  as  if  to  detain  him  from  that  fated 
errand.  When  Macbeth  stole  in  under  cover  of  darkness  to 
murder  the  king,  "  the  night  was  unruly;  chimneys  were 
blown  down,  lamen tings  were  heard  in  the  air  and  strange 
screams."  And  here,  punctual  to  the  second,  when  the 
third  culminating  denial  fell  from  the  cowardly  Apostle's 
lips,  the  cock  crew  as  if  keeping  tryst  with  the  w^ord  of 
the  Lord. 

"  And  the  Lord  turned  and  looked  on  Peter."  It  was 
only  a  look,  but  it  was  enough.  It  brought  to  Peter's 
mind  the  warning  he  had  received  at  the  time  of  his  boast- 
ful utterance  touching  the  fidelity  he  would  show  when 
the  crisis  came.  It  brought  to  his  heart  afresh  the  sense 
of  the  Lord's  gentleness  with  his  wavering  disciple.  It 
brought  to  his  soul  a  feeling  of  remorse  over  his  instability 
and  ingratitude.     "  And  he  went  out  and  wept  bitterly." 

In  the  hour  when  Peter  turned  away  from  his  Lord  in 
wicked  and  profane  denial  of  that  holy  relationship  with 
which  he  had  been  blessed,  the  Lord  turned  anew  to  Peter. 
The  divine  compassion  took  the  initiative  here  as  every- 
where. "  We  love  him,  because  he  first  loved  us."  "While 
we  were  yet  sinners  Christ  died  for  us."  "  No  man  cometh 
unto  me  except  the  Father  in  heaven  draw  him."  The 
first  overtures  come  uniformly  from  God's  side.  And  with 
all  his  fickleness  and  faultiness  Peter  had  kept  his  heart 
so  sensitive  that  one  look  from  his  Lord  was  enough  to 
face  him  again  toward  the  light. 

The  gentleness  of  the  divine  compassion!  The  remon- 
strance of  Jesus  did  not  come  in  hot  words  of  censure 
or  denunciation;  it  did  not  come  in  loud  appeal  or  fervent 
exhortation  for  an  about  face  —  it  came  in  a  look  of  pity- 
ing surprise   that   this   impetuous  man  could   so  soon   fall 


THE  LIFE  ETERNAL  517 

away  from  his  fervent  mood  of  devotion.  The  Lord  was 
not  in  the  wind.  The  Lord  was  not  in  the  fire.  The 
Lord  was  not  in  the  earthquake.  The  Lord  was  in  a  still, 
small  voice,  spiritually  efficacious  beyond  all  the  more 
violent  expressions  of  power  and  purpose. 

"  Peter  went  out  and  wept  bitterly."  "  Judas  went  and 
hanged  himself."  "  Each  of  these  men  had  a  chapter  in 
his  life  which  contained  the  story  of  a  black  sin,"  said  Dean 
Hodges.  "  There  is  a  difference  between  the  man  who  be- 
trays and  the  man  who  denies  his  Master,  but  not  a  very 
great  difference.  Judas  went  and  hanged  himself,  while 
Peter  went  out  and  wept  bitterly,  feeling  very  badly  about 
it.  But  there  is  a  good  deal  of  difference  between  putting 
a  handkerchief  to  one's  eyes  and  putting  a  rope  about 
one's  neck.     Ought  not  Peter  to  have  imitated  Judas? 

"  The  question  is.  What  shall  a  man  do  who  has  com- 
mitted a  great  sin?  Shall  he  go  out  and  weep  bitterly 
and  then  try  to  make  up  for  his  offense  and  be  a  decent 
man  again?  Or  shall  he  go  and  hang  himself?  A  man 
can  hang  himself  without  a  rope.  He  can  go  hanged 
through  the  rest  of  a  long  life;  that  is,  he  can  make  him- 
self absolutely  miserable,  torture  his  soul,  put  his  con- 
science in  the  rack  every  night  and  break  his  heart  on 
the  wheel.  He  can  commit  spiritual  suicide.  Which  is  the 
best  example  —  the  apostle  with  the  tearful  eyes  or  the 
apostle  with  the  broken  neck?  " 

The  question  is  soon  answered.  Remorse  and  despair 
may  fittingly  express  a  man's  abhorrence  for  his  sin. 
But  repentance  where  it  is  real  has  more  of  worth.  It 
indicates  an  about  face.  It  paves  the  way  for  hope  and 
aspiration.  It  is  more  precious  than  diamonds  and  rubies, 
for  it  foretells  the  upward  movement  of  a  soul  which  will 
outlast  and  outshine  them  all.  Penitence  with  trust  is  big 
with  promise. 


518  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

David  was  a  man  after  God's  own  heart,  not  because  he 
was  without  fault  —  David  fell  into  the  grossest  sin.  He 
was  a  man  after  God's  own  heart  because  when  he  fell 
he  got  up  again,  faced  toward  his  Lord  rather  than  away 
from  him.  Peter  is  perhaps  the  best  beloved  of  all  the 
disciples,  not  because  of  any  unstained  moral  excellence, 
but  because  his  weakness  seemed  to  drive  him  into  closer 
fellowship  with  and  into  a  truer  dependence  upon  his  Lord. 

There  lies  the  source  of  hope  for  us  all.  If  we  say  we 
have  no  sin  we  deceive  ourselves.  But  if  we  confess  our 
sins,  he  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins  and  to 
cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness.  When  the  wicked  man 
turneth  away  from  his  wickedness  and  doeth  that  which  is 
lawful  and  right,  he  shall  save  his  soul  alive. 


LXXXVI 

JESUS  BEFORE  PILATE 

Matt.  27  :  11-31;  Luke  23  : 1-25 

The  painter,  the  poet  and  the  preacher  have  all  tried 
their  hands  on  this  situation.  And  however  they  have 
pictured  the  outer  setting  of  the  principal  figures,  they 
have  all  united  in  causing  the  figure  of  the  prisoner  to 
dominate  the  whole  scene.  Wherever  this  stone  which  the 
builders  refused  is  placed,  there  is  the  head  of  the  corner. 
Wherever  the  Son  of  Man  stands,  there  is  the  right  hand 
of  power! 

"Now  Jesus  stood  before  the  governor"  —  not  to  be 
judged  but  to  judge  the  haughty  official.  He  stood  there 
to  determine  what  place  this  Roman  officer  would  thence- 
forth take  in  the  estimate  of  the  race.  And  he  doomed 
him  to  a  sorry  place.  "  Suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate  "  — 
this  is  the  man's  only  title  to  remembrance.  The  card 
with  which  he  is  ticketed  is  bordered  with  black  and  stained 
with  blood.  He  won  for  himself  a  somber  bit  of  immortal- 
ity in  those  moments  when  the  Man  of  Nazareth  stood 
before  him.  He  knew  not  that  that  hour  was  the  most 
significant  hour  in  his  whole  career. 

With  what  patient  dignity  Jesus  bore  himself  before  this 
crafty,  wriggling,  politic  official  and  in  the  face  of  the 
rabble.  "  When  he  was  accused  by  the  chief  priests  and 
elders,  he  answered  nothing."  "  When  Pilate  said.  How 
many  things  they  witness  against  thee  —  he  answered  not  a 
word."  When  the  governor  inquired,  "  Art  thou  the  king 
of    the   Jews? "    Jesus    replied,    "  Thou    sayest."     He   bore 

519 


520  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

himself  as  one  conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  whole  proceed- 
ing was  a  travesty.  He  himself  was  taking  the  moral 
government  of  the  world  upon  his  shoulder  as  none  other 
ever  has. 

We  are  told  that  at  the  feast  of  the  passover  it  was  the 
custom  to  release  one  prisoner  as  an  act  of  mercy  upon  the 
demand  of  the  multitude.  It  was  like  the  custom  of  hav- 
ing the  Governor  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts 
announce  the  pardon  of  some  criminal  on  the  morning  of 
Thanksgiving  Day. 

There  was  one  noted  prisoner  in  bonds  named  Barabbas. 
He  had  been  a  robber.  When  the  multitude  came  Pilate 
suggested  that  he  might  at  their  request  release  Barabbas. 
"  Barabbas  or  Christ?  "  he  called  out  to  them.  It  is  a 
rude  picture  of  the  eternal  option.  What  spirit  is  to  be 
set  free  in  the  world  to  work  its  will  upon  the  lives  of 
men?  Shall  it  be  the  spirit  that  goes  to  kill  and  to  steal 
and  to  destroy,  or  the  spirit  that  comes  that  men  may  have 
life  and  have  it  more  abundantly?  There  is  never  a  con- 
gregation great  or  small  gathered  to  hear  the  gospel  which 
does  not  have  this  option  put  up  to  them.  What  moral 
forces  are  to  be  released  and  made  active?  Will  you 
liberate  Barabbas  or  will  you  liberate  Jesus? 

When  the  mob  called  for  the  release  of  Barabbas,  Pilate 
was  disposed  to  remonstrate  with  them.  "  He  knew  that 
for  envy  they  had  delivered  up  Jesus."  But  the  rabble 
cried  the  more,  "If  thou  release  this  man  thou  art  not 
Caesar's  friend.  Every  one  that  maketh  himself  a  king 
speaketh  against  Csesar."  And  Pilate  then  asked  them, 
"  What  then  shall  I  do  with  Jesus?  " 

He  must  have  known  the  futility  of  submitting  a  ques- 
tion of  right  and  wrong  to  an  angry  mob.  The  man  who 
would  submit  a  legal  question  involving  the  life  of  a  human 
being  to  the  rabble  gathered  in  a  lynching  mood  is  either 


THE  LIFE   ETERNAL  521 

a   fool  or  a  knave.     It  might  seem   from   the  data  before 
us  that  Pilate  was  both. 

Pilate  saw  in  Jesus  a  harmless  enthusiast,  a  dreamer 
and  a  visionary,  who  talked  of  a  kingdom  where  men  did 
not  fight,  where  power  did  not  rest  upon  force.  He  found 
no  fault  in  him  except  that  he  seemed  to  be  utterly  im- 
practicable in  his  method  of  seeking  sovereignty  over  the 
lives  of  men.  He  would  have  been  glad  to  let  him  go  but 
for  the  fact  that  it  would  evidently  please  the  people  to 
have  him  delivered  up  to  shameful  death. 

But  the  Roman  official  had  still  some  remnant  of  that 
sense  of  justice  which  the  Roman  government  bred  in  its 
representatives.  "  Why,  what  evil  hath  he  done?  "  It 
would  be  interesting  to  make  up  a  composite  appraisement 
of  Christ  from  the  estimates  placed  upon  him  by  out- 
siders. Pilate  said,  "  I  find  no  fault  in  him."  Pilate's 
wife  called  Jesus,  "  That  righteous  man."  Judas  said  that 
in  betraying  him,  he  had  betrayed  "  innocent  blood." 
If  there  had  been  a  moral  flaw  in  Christ,  Judas  would  have 
detected  it.  The  enemies  of  Jesus  when  he  hung  upon 
the  cross  cried  out,  "  He  trusted  in  God."  The  Centurion 
said  when  he  had  witnessed  the  death  of  Jesus  upon  the 
cross,  '*  Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God." 

At  this  point  in  the  proceedings  there  came  a  message 
to  the  Roman  governor  from  his  wife.  She  had  a  dream, 
and  dreams  in  that  day  were  more  highly  esteemed  than 
now.  It  was  believed  that  in  these  interstices  of  ordinary 
consciousness  when  the  normal  faculties  were  in  a  measure 
suspended,  the  supernatural  found  its  opportunity  and  God 
uttered  his  voice  through  dreams.  His  wife  sent  to  Pilate 
saying,  "  Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with  that  righteous  man, 
for  I  have  suffered  many  things  in  a  dream  because  of 
him." 

Pilate    saw    that    his    remonstrance .  in   nowise    effected 


522  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

the  attitude  of  the  mob.  He  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  pro- 
test of  his  wife,  grounded  as  it  was  in  what  seemed  to 
him  the  foolish  fears  begotten  of  a  woman's  dream.  He 
made  ready  to  dehver  his  august  prisoner  into  the  hands 
of  the  mob  that  they  might  work  their  will  upon  him. 
But  first  he  w^ill  wash  his  hands  in  showy  fashion  as  if  he 
would  by  that  symbolic  act  disclaim  all  share  in  their 
bloody  business.  "  He  washed  his  hands  before  the  multi- 
tude, saying,  I  am  innocent  of  the  blood  of  this  righteous 
man.     See  ye  to  it." 

They  did  not  shirk  the  responsibility.  Their  mad  bigotry 
was  ready  to  go  all  lengths.  "All  the  people  answered 
and  said.  His  blood  be  upon  us  and  upon  our  children." 
It  has  been!  From  that  hour  there  fell  a  blight  upon  the 
religious  life  of  Israel.  They  lost  the  right  of  the  line  in 
spiritual  leadership  which  they  had  held  for  many  glorious 
centuries.  The  coldness  and  the  indifference  of  great  sec- 
tions of  Judaism  today  is  one  of  the  burdens  which  rests 
heavily  upon  the  hearts  of  devoted  rabbis.  It  was  a  fear- 
ful undertaking  they  assumed  when  they  cried,  "  His  blood 
be  upon  us,"  and  fearfully  have  they  rendered  payment. 

But  the  responsibility  could  not  be  shifted  thus  easily 
by  Pilate's  showy  action  in  washing  his  hands  or  by  that 
ill-considered  word  of  the  people.  Pilate  stands  condemned 
before  the  ages  on  these  two  counts: 

First,  he  knew  Christ  to  be  unworthy  of  shameful  death. 
He  stands  condemned  by  his  own  lips.  "  Why,  what  evil 
hath  he  done?     I  find  no  fault  in  this  man." 

In  the  second  place,  he  had  power  to  release  and  to 
protect  Christ,  but  he  failed  to  exercise  it.  "I  have  power 
to  release  thee  and  have  power  to  crucify  thee,"  he  said 
to  the  Master  as  he  stood  there  in  his  tribunal.  And 
when  the  hour  struck  he  used  his  power  for  the  impal- 
ing of  innocence  upon  the  cross. 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  523 

Crucifixion  was  a  Roman  method  of  execution.  The 
Jews  were  not  allowed  under  Roman  rule  to  inflict  it  upon 
any  offender.  Their  malignity  would  have  been  powerless 
therefore  to  have  brought  Jesus  to  the  cross  but  for  the 
support  and  co-operation  of  this  Roman  official  who  cared 
more  for  the  yell  of  the  mob  or  the  smile  of  Caesar  than 
for  the  cause  of  right.  "  I  find  no  fault  in  him  —  then  he 
delivered  him  unto  them  to  be  crucified."  The  setting  of 
these  two  statements  in  conjunction  shows  him  in  the  very 
act  of  poisoning  the  stream  of  justice  at  its  source. 

The  rabble  took  swift  advantage  of  Pilate's  permission 
when  he  released  Barabbas  and  scourged  Jesus,  delivering 
him  to  the  people  to  be  crucified.  They  repeated  all  the 
insults  of  the  ecclesiastical  court  convened  before  Caiaphas. 
They  put  upon  Christ  a  scarlet  robe  —  but  in  mockery  of 
his  kingly  claims.  They  placed  upon  his  head  a  crown  — 
but  it  was  formed  of  rough  and  painful  thorns.  They 
placed  in  his  hand  the  scepter  of  authority  —  but  it  was 
a  poor  broken  reed  which  they  gave  him  as  if  to  flaunt 
the  idea  of  his  assertion  of  power. 

How  blind  they  were!  Here  was  one,  the  date  of  whose 
birth  would  become  the  starting  point  from  which  all  the 
leading  nations  of  earth  would  speedily  come  to  reckon 
their  time!  Here  was  one  who  would  change  the  moral 
history  of  the  race,  replacing  its  low,  imperfect  ideals  by 
the  august  standards  he  imposed  upon  its  spiritual  life! 
Here  was  One  destined  to  reign  in  the  hearts  of  men  and 
in  the  spiritual  advance  of  the  world  until  he  should  have 
put  all  enemies  under  his  feet!  And  the  only  thing  that 
crowd  in  Pilate's  courtroom  could  find  to  do  was  to  mock 
these  valid  claims  with  studied  insult. 

The  question  which  fell  lightly  from  Pilate's  lips  has 
come  to  be  the  great  question  of  the  ages.  It  must  be 
answered  by  every  individual.     His  own  destiny  turns  upon 


524  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

the  answer  he  gives.  It  must  be  answered  by  the  courses 
which  the  civilizations  of  the  world  take,  and  the  stability 
or  the  instability  they  shall  show  will  turn  upon  the  reply 
they  make.  "  What  then  shall  I  do  with  Jesus,  who  is 
called  the  Christ?  " 

"  Shall  I  reject  him  and  live  precisely  as  if  I  had  never 
heard  his  name?  "  asked  William  M.  Taylor,  "  or  shall 
I  accept  him  as  my  Saviour  and  obey  him  as  my  Lord? 
I  must  do  the  one  or  the  other.  Yet  how  many  are  seek- 
ing like  Pilate  to  evade  the  question?  Let  me  give  you 
one  parting  word  —  it  is  this :  You  cannot  evade  the  deci- 
sion but  be  sure  that  you  look  at  the  Christ  before  you  give 
him  up!  " 


LXXXVII 

CHRIST  CRUCIFIED 

Mark  15  :  21-41;    Luke  23  :  39-43 

"  There  they  crucified  him."  When  we  have  read  these 
opening  words  in  the  passage  the  whole  picture  is  before  us. 
It  utters  its  own  message.  It  seems  almost  impertinent 
to  speak  about  it  —  let  us  stand  in  reverent  silence  before 
the  Cross  allowing  it  to  speak  for  itself! 

There  are  many  events  in  the  life  of  Jesus  and  many  of 
his  sayings  which  are  only  recorded  in  a  single  Gospel. 
But  when  we  come  to  the  crucifixion  we  have  a  full  ac- 
count of  the  matter  in  each  of  the  four  Gospels.  It  would 
seem  as  if  each  man  were  conscious  of  his  inability  to 
bear  such  a  burden  of  responsibility  alone  —  he  summons 
the  other  three  to  aid  him.  And  each  one  brings  in  some 
record  of  the  event  or  some  utterance  of  Christ  to  sup- 
plement the  work  of  the  others. 

In  the  passages  to  be  studied  here  we  have  these  several 
steps  in  the  progress  of  the  dread  event  noted. 

Jesus  was  led  to  a  place  known  as  "  Golgotha  "  to  be 
crucified  between  two  thieves.  It  was  customary  to  re- 
quire the  condemned  man  to  bear  his  own  cross  to  the 
place  of  execution.  But  owing  to  the  unusual  weight  of 
this  cross  or  to  the  broken  physical  strength  of  Jesus  after 
the  ordeal  he  had  passed,  they  impressed  a  Cyrenian  whose 
name  was  Simon  to  bear  the  cross. 

"  There  they  crucified  him  and  the  malefactors,  one  on 
the  right  hand  and  the  other  on  the  left."  He  was  hung 
up  between  two  thieves.     "It  was  part  of  his  humiliation 

525 


526  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

that  he  did  not  suffer  alone,"  said  Phillips  Brooks  in  a 
notable  sermon.  "  Crucifixion  was  terrible  and  disgraceful 
enough  in  itself,  but  if  Jesus  had  hung  upon  his  cross  with 
nothing  near  him  to  disturb  the  impression  of  his  calm 
serenity  and  innocence,  it  might  well  have  happened  that 
the  people  who  stood  and  watched  would  have  lost  sight 
of  the  disgrace  and  would  have  felt  the  majesty  of  the 
sacrifice.  Already  that  place  of  suffering  might  have  seemed 
as  glorious  as  it  has  seemed  to  the  world  since.  But  as  it 
w^as  they  went  to  the  prison  and  dragged  out  two  wretched 
culprits  who  were  waiting  for  their  doom.  That  there 
might  be  no  doubt  about  the  disgracefulness  of  the 
Saviour's  sufferings,  they  hung  him  between   two  thieves." 

He  was  offered  the  stupefying  drink  and  refused  it. 
The  humane  women  of  that  day  were  accustomed  to  pre- 
pare a  drink  made  of  wine  mingled  with  myrrh  and  to 
offer  it  to  those  undergoing  crucifixion  to  make  them  less 
sensible  of  their  pain.  It  was  an  early  and  rude  form  of 
anaesthetic  designed  to  modify  the  sharpness  of  physical 
agony. 

"  But  he  received  it  not."  He  will  not  shrink  from  any 
pain  which  the  obscurest  slave  might  be  compelled  to 
undergo.  He  will  face  death  with  all  his  sensibilities  and 
mental  faculties  alert.  He  will  be  ready  with  unclouded 
vision  to  behold  the  opportunities  for  redemptive  service 
which  may  open  before  him  even  in  that  dread  hour  when 
he  hangs  upon  the  cross. 

His  garments  were  parted  among  the  soldiers  who 
"  cast  lots  upon  them,  what  each  should  take."  The 
garments  of  the  condemned  formed  one  of  the  perquisites 
of  the  soldiers  told  off  for  the  grewsome  task  of  executing 
criminals.     And  here  in  the  presence  of  the  most  significant 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  527 

event  in  the  moral  history  of  mankind  these  men  whose 
eyes  were  holden  sat  down  to  throw  dice  for  the  choice 
among  the  clothes  of  one  whom  they  esteemed  but  an 
unfortunate  GaUlean  peasant.  The  Master  was  compelled 
in  his  closing  hours  to  look  upon  a  group  of  men  who 
cared  more  for  his  garments  than  for  his  gospel;  they 
were  more  intent  upon  possessing  what  he  had  worn  than 
upon  possessing  the  spirit  that  was  in  him.  Their  action 
drove  yet  other  nails  into  his  sensitive  nature. 

He  prayed  for  his  enemies.  "  Father,  forgive  them  for 
they  know  not  what  they  do."  His  mercy  reached  unto 
the  clouds  and  it  touched  the  lowest  levels  ever  reached 
by  human  sin.     His  patient  forbearance  knew  no  bounds. 

He  had  taught  his  disciples  to  "  love  their  enemies." 
He  loved  his  own  enemies.  He  bade  them,  "  Pray  for 
them  that  despitefuUy  use  you  and  persecute  you."  In 
that  dread  hour  he  showed  the  world  that  the  word  he 
uttered  had  become  flesh  in  his  own  practice.  He  himself 
could  bless  them  that  cursed  him  and  do  good  to  those 
who  showed  him  their  hate.  He  was  indeed  perfect  even 
as  the  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect.  His  great  ideals  as 
they  stood  declared  in  the  body  of  his  teaching  had  become 
accomplished  facts  in  his  own  spiritual  achievement. 

He  instructed  and  forgave  the  penitent  thief.  Helpful- 
ness was  his  daily,  hourly  habit.  He  could  not  pass  through 
a  crowded  street  without  having  some  suffering  woman 
touch  the  hem  of  his  garment  for  her  recovery.  He  could 
not  enter  Jericho  without  picking  a  sinful  man  out  of  the 
crowd,  leaving  him  renewed,  a  son  of  Abraham  to'  whose 
heart  salvation  had  come.  He  could  not  suffer  upon  the 
cross  without  carrying  a  penitent  robber  in  his  arms  into 
Paradise. 


528  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

"  One  of  the  malefactors  railed  on  him."  But  one  of 
them  looked  upon  him  with  appeal  in  his  eyes.  "  Lord, 
remember  me  when  thou  comest  into  thy  Kingdom." 
When  a  man  whose  past  life  has  been  evil  reaches  that 
point  of  penitent  trust  where  he  can  say  as  much  as  that, 
he  is  not  far  from  the  Kingdom  of  God.  "  In  the  wild 
storm  of  obloquy  and  derision  this  robber  utters  one  sweet, 
reverent  word  —  Lord.  Above  the  flood  of  blasphemy 
and  execration  which  dashes  round  the  cross  this  robber 
lifts  his  head  and  acknowledges  allegiance  to  the  King! 
To  call  a  dying  man  a  King  and  to  ask  him  for  a  favor 
on  the  other  side  of  death,  that  is  faith  indeed." 

He  had  an  inscription  placed  above  his  head.  There 
was  an  inscription  written  in  Hebrew  and  in  Latin  and  in 
Greek,  so  that  all  these  diverse  races  and  forms  of  interest 
might  read  and  understand,  "  This  is  the  King  of  the 
Jews."  The  four  Gospels  vary  in  their  statements  as  to 
the  exact  wording  of  the  inscription,  but  all  agree  that  it 
contained  this  statement,  "  The  King  of  the  Jews,"  as 
indicating  the  cause  of  his  execution. 

In  summoning  three  of  the  leading  languages  of  earth 
in  that  day  to  bear  witness  to  the  royalty  of  the  one  who 
hung  upon  the  cross;  in  summoning  three  forms  of  civiliza- 
tion, the  Roman  with  its  genius  for  political  administra- 
tion and  material  development,  the  Greek  with  its  genuis 
for  philosophy  and  art  and  the  Hebrew  with  its  genius 
for  ethics  and  religion,  to  confess  the  Kingship  of  Jesus, 
they  wrote  more  wisely  than  they  knew.  The  One  who 
hung  there  in  apparent  helplessness  has  become  in  all 
these  lines  of  human  advance  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord 
of  lords. 

He  was  derided  by  the  people  and  by  the  chief  priests. 
They  were  powerless  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind  or  to 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  529 

unstop  the  dull  ears  of  the  deaf  as  he  had  been  doing;  they 
were  unable  to  preach  good  tidings  to  the  poor  or  to  bind 
up  the  broken-hearted  or  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  were 
bruised.  But  they  could  step  up  and  spit  upon  him  as  he 
hung  helpless  under  their  insults.  They  could  stand  off 
and  wag  their  heads,  saying,  "Ha!  he  saved  others  —  let 
him  save  himself!  " 

Here  are  yet  other  nails  driven  ruthlessly  into  his  heart 
which  even  in  that  awful  hour  was  still  throbbing  with 
tenderness!  He  came  unto  his  own  and  his  own  made 
this  return!  He  went  about  doing  good  and  this 
was  the  measure  of  their  appreciation!  He  was  despised 
and  rejected  of  men,  a  man  of  sorrows  and  acquainted 
with  grief. 

He  made  his  heartfelt  appeal  to  the  Father.  "  My  God, 
my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?  "  His  words  are 
the  opening  words  in  the  twenty-second  Psalm,  and  we  are 
to  interpret  them  in  the  light  of  the  whole  spiritual  ut- 
terance to  be  found  in  that  song  of  Israel.  When  President 
McKinley  on  his  deathbed  murmured,  ''  Nearer,  my  God, 
to  thee,"  it  was  manifest  that  the  whole  message  of  that 
noble  hymn  was  in  his  mind,  yielding  its  peace  and  comfort 
in  his  last  hours. 

In  like  manner  we  are  to  think  of  Christ  as  having  in 
mind  the  full  message  and  meaning  of  that  ancient  Psalm. 
We  shall  in  this  way  reach  a  surer  interpretation  of  the 
meaning  of  this  cry  than  by  seeking  to  inquire  how  far 
the  Father  had  withdrawn  from  the  Son  the  sense  of  his 
gracious  presence. 

His  enemies  even  derided  that  sacred  word.  "  He  calleth 
Elijah,"  they  said  seeking  to  perpetrate  a  rude  witticism 
upon  the  verbal  resemblance  of  his  cry,  "  Eli  "  (My  God), 
and  the  name  of  the  great  prophet.     "  Let  us  see  whether 


530  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

Elijah   Cometh   to   take   him   down."     In   their   sinful   eyes 
nothing  was  revered. 

He  yielded  up  his  life  with  the  words,  "  Father,  into  thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  He  met  the  tempter  in  the 
wilderness  with  words  of  Scripture  on  his  lips.  Now  he 
keeps  the  faith  and  finishes  his  course  with  the  word  of 
God  still  upon  his  lips  and  in  his  heart  as  an  abiding  source 
of  power. 

Let  his  Cross  in  its  august  dignity,  in  its  infinite  sim- 
plicity, utter  its  own  great  lesson.  "  Speculation  as  to  the 
relation  of  the  death  of  Christ  to  the  Deity  and  to  the 
moral  order  has  been  common  and  useless.  Salvation  is 
as  mysterious  as  the  action  of  the  elemental  forces.  How 
gravitation  operates  no  one  knows!  How  the  energy  in  a 
sunbeam  is  communicated  to  a  flower  no  one  understands! 
How  electricity  can  be  manipulated  so  that  a  man  may 
hold  a  pen  in  Chicago  and  write  his  signature  in  New 
York  baffles  imagination!  And  until  such  facts  are  ex- 
plained no  one  need  be  dazed  at  the  mystery  of  spiritual 
life.     The  way  of  the  cross  is  the  way  of  victory." 


LXXXVIII 
"  HE  IS  RISEN  " 

Mark  16  : 1-8;  Matt.  28  :  11-15 

The  last  words  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  Mark  and  the 
first  words  in  the  sixteenth  are  suggestive.  "  He  rolled 
a  stone  against  the  door  of  the  tomb  and  Mary  Magda- 
lene and  Mary  the  mother  of  Joses  beheld  where  he  was 
laid."  "  And  when  the  Sabbath  was  past  Mary  Magda- 
lene and  Mary  the  mother  of  James  and  Salome  bought 
spices  that  they  might  come  and  anoint  him."  The  last 
eyes  of  love  to  look  upon  the  laying  of  the  Saviour's  body 
in  the  tomb  on  the  evening  of  what  we  call  "  Good  Fri- 
day "  were  the  eyes  of  devoted  women.  And  the  first 
approach  to  the  empty  tomb  on  what  has  become  to  us 
"  Easter  Day  "  was  made  by  devoted  women. 

They  brought  spices  to  anoint  the  dead  body  of  him 
whom  they  had  loved.  This  gracious  action  revealed  their 
affection,  but  it  showed  how  empty  were  their  hearts  of 
faith.  The  fact  of  his  rising  from  the  dead  had  yet  to  be 
established  not  in  minds  credulous  and  anticipant  of  such 
an  event;  it  had  to  be  established  in  the  minds  of  those 
w^ho  were  "  slow  of  heart  to  believe." 

The  women  said,  as  they  walked  in  the  uncertain  light 
of  that  early  dawn,  "  Who  shall  roll  away  the  stone  from 
the  door  of  the  sepulcher? "  The  physical  obstacle  be- 
tween them  and  the  object  of  their  desire  seemed  to  them 
1  impassable.  But  they  found  the  stone  rolled  away.  The 
physical  obstacles  between  their  heavy  hearts  and  the 
Easter   hope  of   triumphant  and   advancing  life   had   been 

531 


532  THE  MASTER'S  WAY 

removed  by  the  might  of  life  itself.  "It  was  not  possible 
that  he  should  be  holden  of  death." 

The  resurrection  of  Christ  and  the  whole  claim  of  im- 
mortal life  have  been  overlaid  with  assertions  which  tend 
to  make  it  impossible,  if  not  actually  grotesque,  to  many 
discriminating  minds.  The  early  church  fathers,  many  of 
them,  taught  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh,  insisting  upon 
the  recovery  of  the  very  particles,  the  hair,  the  teeth,  the 
nails  and  other  specified  organs  of  the  body.  They  made 
themselves  unwittingly  the  enemies  of  well-reasoned  faith. 

"The  view  now  offered  is  substantially  this:  the  resur- 
rection is  from  the  dead  and  not  from  the  grave.  It  takes 
place  at  death,  and  is  general  in  the  sense  of  being  uni- 
versal. The  spiritual  body,  or  the  basis  of  the  spiritual 
body,  already  exists,  and  this  is  the  body  that  is  raised 
up,  God  giving  it  such  outward  form  as  pleaseth  him." 

We  need  not  concern  ourselves  with  questions  touching 
the  precise  mode  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus.  "  With  what 
sort  of  body  did  he  come?  "  we  are  asked.  "  Could  he  eat 
and  drink  in  his  risen  body?"  When  I  had  preached  a 
sermon  on  the  Easter  hope  I  once  received  a  letter  from  a 
woman  who  possessed  more  of  the  spirit  of  inquiry  than  of 
good  sense,  asking  "  Where  did  Christ  get  the  clothes  he 
wore  in  his  risen  state?  " 

How  far  beside  the  mark  is  all  this!  We  may  well 
reply,  as  Bishop  Whipple  did  to  a  young  novitiate  who, 
in  an  ambitious  confirmation  sermon,  had  gotten  in  where 
the  water  v/as  over  his  head.  The  bishop  asked  the  young 
preacher  at  the  close  of  the  service,  "  What  does  the  Bible 
say  about  all  that?  "  "It  says  nothing  at  all,"  the  young 
man  promptly  replied.  "  Then  would  it  not  be  as  well  to 
follow  so  good  an  example?  " 

The  silences  of  Scripture  are  often  as  significant  as  its 
speech.     We   are    not    favored    v/ith    such    data   as   would 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  533 

warrant  us  in  undertaking  to  build  a  system  of  affirma- 
tions touching  the  mode  of  Christ's  resurrection  or  the 
particular  properties  of  the  "  spiritual  body."  The  great, 
abiding,  significant  fact  is  that  *'  HE  ROSE."  He  was 
not  there  in  the  place  of  death  where  the  women  sought 
him.  He  was  and  is  and  is  to  be  for  evermore  in  the 
realm  of  life.  He  is  the  risen,  reigning,  triumphant  Christ. 
Here  is  the  kernel  of  our  Easter  message;  all  the  rest  is 
wrapping! 

But  intellectual  difficulties  present  themselves  at  once 
to  the  serious  mind  in  some  such  form  as  this:  "What 
can  assure  the  modern  man,  made  aware  of  the  uniformity 
of  nature  and  versed  in  the  history  of  other  religions  which 
tell  of  trances,  visions  and  apparitions,  that  the  story  of 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  stands  unique  and 
impregnable,  not  to  be  dislodged  by  scientific  assault,  not 
to  be  remanded  to  the  realm  of  myth  and  legend?  " 

Here  are  the  three  main  considerations  which  afford 
me  the  most  assurance: 

The  tomb  was  empty.  The  dead  body  was  placed  there, 
and  a  guard  was  set  to  prevent  imposture;  but  in  spite  of 
everything,  when  the  third  day  dawned  the  body  was  gone. 
If  the  body  had  been  there  the  enemies  of  the  Christian 
cause  would  have  triumphantly  produced  it  as  a  complete 
and  final  refutation  of  the  claim,  which  the  apostles  began 
to  make  at  once,  that  he  had  risen  from  the  dead.  The 
producing  of  that  body,  slowly  undergoing  corruption  in 
the  tomb,  v/ould  have  put  a  quietus  on  the  whole  move- 
ment. It  would  have  made  unnecessary  Saul's  trip  to 
Damascus  and  all  the  other  desperate  efforts  to  stamp  out 
the  sect  which  built  squarely  upon  the  claim  that  Christ 
had  risen.  But  the  body  was  not  to  be  found;  the  tomb 
was  empty. 

We  find  men  who  had  given  up  all  hope  (saying  sadly, 


534  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

"  We  trusted  that  it  had  been  he  who  should  have  re- 
deemed Israel,"  and  returning  to  their  fishing),  somehow- 
changed  into  triumphant  believers.  They  were  trans- 
formed from  despondent  pessimists,  whose  dead  hopes 
were  sealed  up  in  the  sepulcher  of  Joseph  of  Arimethea, 
into  sturdy  apostles  of  a  living  faith  in  a  risen  Lord. 

I  have  read  the  labored  efforts  of  men  to  throw  light 
upon  this  psychological  and  moral  problem  —  some  of 
them  made  by  men  who  apparently  find  it  easy  to  believe 
almost  anything  except  the  plain  statements  of  the  four 
Gospels  —  and  I  cannot  for  myself  find  any  sufficient  cause 
for  that  transformation  except  the  solid,  veritable  fact  that 
Christ  rose  from  the  dead  and  certified  this  truth  to  the  con- 
sciousness of  those  doubting  men  by  appearing  to  them  alive. 

We  find  further  confirmation  in  the  blessing  of  spiritual 
efficacy  placed  steadily  and  squarely  upon  the  positive 
rather  than  upon  the  negative  claim  touching  the  resur- 
rection of  our  Lord.  The  men  who  for  centuries  have  been 
industriously  attempting  to  show  that  Jesus  did  not  rise 
from  the  dead  have  not  been  able  to  show  in  themselves 
or  in  the  feeble  following  they  have  gained  that  measure  of 
moral  passion,  of  spiritual  energy,  of  capacity  for  heroic 
self-sacrifice  in  the  cause  of  righteousness,  which  habitually 
attend  the  preaching  of  a  risen  Lord.  "  Do  men  gather 
grapes  of  thorns  or  figs  of  thistles?  "  Are  the  worthiest 
and  most  enduring  moral  results  the  fruitage  of  illusion 
and  falsehood,  while  spiritual  feebleness  attends  the  pro- 
claiming of  that  which  is  true? 

When  we  study  the  miracles  of  Jesus  it  is  well  to  make 
our  approach  through  a  previous  study  of  his  own  person. 
We  shall  find  awakened  in  our  minds  a  certain  anticipa- 
tion that  to  such  a  personality  as  Jesus  the  great  natural 
order  which  enfolds  us  may  have  had  a  response  to  make 
altogether  unique. 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  535 

It  is  well  also  to  make  our  approach  to  a  study  of  the 
narratives  of  the  resurrection  through  the  painstaking  study 
of  the  words,  the  deeds,  the  life  quality  of  him  concerning 
whom  this  astonishing  claim  is  made,  "  Behooved  it  not 
the  Christ  to  suffer  these  things  and  to  enter  into  his 
glory?  *'  When  we  have  had  opened  to  us  the  previous 
records  concerning  him,  and  have  passed  in  review  the 
record  of  the  unmistakable  impress  he  has  made  upon  the 
higher  life  of  the  race  in  all  the  centuries  since,  we  find 
our  hearts  burning  within  us  with  a  mightier  and  more 
radiant  expectation. 

The  problem,  of  personal  immortality  has  another  aspect. 
How  conscious  life  can  leave  the  body  (with  whose  cere- 
bral organization  it  has  steadily  been  associated)  to  be 
resolved  into  dust  in  the  slow  processes  of  the  cemetery 
or  the  swifter  processes  of  the  crematory,  and  still  maintain 
its  conscious  self,  becomes  to  certain  minds  an  objection 
insuperable. 

But  the  sum  of  all  these  physical  processes  does  not 
give  us  the  fact  of  consciousness  in  the  first  place.  This  is 
one  of  the  commonplaces  of  an  accurate  psychology.  When 
I  hold  my  hand  before  my  eyes  and  move  my  fingers  I 
am  aware  that  I  am  observing  that  which  is  external  to 
my  real  consciousness.  If  I  have  the  benefit  of  the  X-ray 
I  can  watch  the  movement  of  the  articulations  of  the  wrist 
and  hand,  I  can  see  the  two  bones  of  the  forearm  and  note 
the  circulation  of  the  blood  in  the  arteries  and  veins. 
Suppose  I  had  an  X-ray  sufficiently  powerful  to  enable  me 
to  study  the  atomic  changes  and  molecular  movements 
within  the  brain  which  accompany  the  changing  moods  of 
my  inner  consciousness  as  I  pass  from  anger  to  love  or 
from  joy  to  sorrow.  In  that  case  as  I  turned  the  X-ray 
upon  my  brain  and  studied  in  the  mirror  these  various 
atomic   changes   and   molecular   movements,  who ,  would   be 


536  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

doing  the  watching?  Not  the  brain  itself,  for  the  brain  Is 
the  object  being  observed  and  reflected  upon  by  the  inner 
consciousness.  The  sum  of  all  the  physical  processes  does 
not  give  us  the  fact  of  consciousness.  The  personal  con- 
sciousness transcends  the  whole  physical  framework. 

We  can  readily  believe  therefore  that  the  destruction  of 
these  physical  organs  and  processes  does  not  necessarily 
Involve  the  destruction  of  personal  consciousness.  The 
consciousness  continues  manifesting  itself  In  some  new  and 
altered  form.  We  have  borne  the  Image  of  the  earthy. 
We  shall  also  as  conscious  living  factors  In  the  life  of  the 
universe  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly. 

It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  retain  my  faith  In 
God  without  maintaining  also  a  glad,  confident  hope  of 
immortal  life.  Let  Theodore  T.  Munger  speak  on  this 
point;  his  splendid  words  are,  I  trow,  but  an  echo  of  what 
he  would  say  today  from  that  serener  height  where  he  now 
walks : 

"  Why  should  love  allow  the  end  of  what  it  loves? 
Why  should  a  father  rear  children  till  their  love  for  him 
has  bloomed  Into  full  sweetness,  and  then  dig  graves  into 
which  he  thrusts  them  while  their  hearts  are  springing  to 
his  and  his  name  trembling  upon  their  lips?  If  death  ends 
life,  what  Is  this  world  but  an  ever-yawning  grave  in  which 
the  loving  God  buries  his  children  with  hopeless  sorrow, 
mocking  at  once  their  love  and  hope  and  every  attribute 
of  his  own  nature?  Divine  as  well  as  human  love  has  but 
one  symbol  in  language — forever!  " 


LXXXIX 
THE  ROAD  TO  EMMAUS 

Luke  24  :  13-35 

I  "  The  eight  miles  from  Jerusalem  to  Emmaus  have  more 
of  high  and  tender  humanity  in  them  than  any  similar 
distance  on  the  face  of  the  earth."  There  is  a  simple, 
homespun  friendliness  in  this  Easter  story.  The  glory  of 
the  life  eternal  walks  along  a  common  road  where  the  wind 
blows  the  dust  in  its  face;  it  sits  at  table  in  a  poor  man's 
house  revealing  itself  in  the  breaking  of  bread. 

The  two  men  who  walked  that  day  to  the  village  called 
Emmaus  were  not  apostles  like  Peter  and  John,  destined 
to  have  churches  innumerable  named  after  them  and  to 
have  their  names  inscribed  on  the  foundation  stones  of  the 
New  Jerusalem.  They  were  just  plain  people  like  our- 
selves, who  walk  and  talk,  wonder  and  think,  become  per- 
plexed and  troubled,  and  are  in  consequence  "  sad."  And 
the  Lord  of  Life  joins  theai'e  little  groups  of  common  people, 
interpreting  to  them  aright  the  meaning  of  human  exist- 
ence until  their  hearts  burn  within  them  as  they  behold 
the  glory  of  it. 

Their  hearts  were  heavy  and  their  mood  was  somber. 
They  could  not  keep  the  grief  they  felt  out  of  their  faces 
even  on  the  public  highway.  They  were  noticeably  sad  as 
they  walked  and  "  communed  together."  They  were  mak- 
ing their  journey  and  taking  their  way  into  the  unknown 
years  that  lay  ahead  "  in  a  world  with  no  Christ  in  it,  or 
with  only  a  dead  Christ  in  it."  No  wonder  they  were  sad! 
All  the  discouraged  and  disheartened  wayfarers  who  take 
the  road  in  that  mood  are  (underneath  that  gay  exterior 
they  may  seek  to  show)  inexpressibly  sad. 

537 


538  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

"We  were  hoping,"  they  said  —  "we  were  hoping  that 
it  had  been  he  who  should  have  redeemed  Israel,  but  the 
chief  priests  and  our  rulers  condemned  him  to  death  and 
have  crucified  him."  How  our  own  hearts  answer  to  it 
all!  "  We  were  hoping  "  —  fill  in  the  rest  of  the  sentence 
from  your  own  story  of  disappointment!  We  were  hoping 
that  these  children  of  ours  should  have  been  the  chief 
joy  of  our  hearts  and  the  main  support  of  our  failing  inter- 
est as  the  day  of  life  should  wear  toward  evening,  but 
now  —  We  were  hoping  that  this  high  measure  of  success 
and  prosperity  to  which  we  have  been  giving  of  our  best 
strength  should  be  an  unfailing  source  of  peace,  but  now 
evil  days  have  come  when  we  have  no  pleasure  in  them 
and  the  pitcher  of  our  joy  is  broken  at  the  fountain. 

It  is  a  long,  weary,  footsore,  heavy-hearted  procession 
w^hich  winds  its  way  from  the  city  of  busy  activity  toward 
some  quiet  spot  like  Emmaus,  reminiscent,  troubled,  saddened. 
They  are  "  slow  of  heart  to  believe  "  what  the  prophets  of 
faith  have  spoken.  They  are  reluctant  about  recognizing 
the  truth  that  life  enters  into  its  glory  by  the  pathway  of 
self-sacrifice.  Their  eyes  are  holden  and  they  do  not  see 
what  rewarding  fellowships  are  open  to  them  as  they  travel 
the  well-known  road  of  common  experience. 

The  two  men  found  a  certain  human  relief  in  talking 
freely  with  the  sympathetic  fellow- traveler  who  "  drew 
near  and  went  with  them."  They  recounted  the  strange 
experiences  of  the  dark  days  through  which  they  had  just 
passed.  They  brought  forth  without  the  least  reserve  their 
dearest  hopes  and  their  profoundest  disappointments. 
They  spoke  of  a  certain  hearsay  which  had  come  to  them 
touching  the  possible  dawn  of  a  brighter  day,  but  it  was 
only  the  word  of  "  certain  women  "  and  might  be  but  the 
eager,  unwarranted  desire  of  the  more  intuitive  feminine 
mind.     They   spoke   of   an   efifort   made    to    run   down    the 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  539 

truth  of  this  report  —  they  had  gone  to  the  sepulcher  of 
the  one  they  had  loved,  "  but  him  they  saw  not." 

There  was  the  key  to  their  whole  mood!  "  Him  they 
saw  not."  The  earth  is  another  place  when  it  is  seen  to 
have  a  heaven  above  it.  The  lives  of  the  children  of  men 
are  transformed  when  it  is  known  that  they  have  a  Heav- 
enly Father  behind  them.  All  the  roads  men  travel  in 
weariness  would  be  as  radiant  pathways  of  light  did  they 
see  the  One  who  appeared  that  day  as  the  two  men  neared 
Emmaus. 

When  the  risen  Christ  joined  them  he  gave  them  what 
William  H.  Strong  has  called  "  the  threefold  assurance." 
He  gave  them  *'  the  witness  of  the  hand."  **  He  was  known 
of  them  in  the  breaking  of  bread."  Some  familiar 
gesture  as  he  took  the  loaf  and  broke  it  before  the  meal 
uttering  the  common  word  of  thanksgiving  revealed  him. 
He  gave  them  "  the  witness  of  the  head."  "  Beginning  at 
Moses  he  expounded  to  them  in  the  Scriptures  the  things 
concerning  himself  "  until  their  minds  saw  how  natural 
and  inevitable  it  was  that  the  Christ  should  enter  into  his 
glory  through  suffering.  He  gave  them  "  the  witness  of 
the  heart  "  as  their  inmost  feeling  rose  and  answered  to 
his  call  when  he  made  his  appeal  for  their  trust.  "  Did 
not  our  hearts  burn  within  us  while  he  talked  with  us  by 
the  way  and  opened  to  us  the  Scriptures." 

He  gave  them  food  and  light  and  warmth,  these  three. 
He  manifested  himself  to  them  in  the  breaking  of  bread, 
feeding  their  wearied  strength  into  newness  of  vigor  so 
that  they  walked  back  to  Jerusalem  that  night  to  tell  the 
other  disciples  what  they  had  seen.  He  fed  their  minds 
with  a  new  understanding  of  the  best  that  had  been  seen 
and  felt  and  said  by  their  own  prophets.  The  two  men 
began  to  live  afresh  by  the  power  of  great  ideas.  He  fed 
their   hearts   with   that   depth   and   glow   of   feeling  out  of 


540  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

which  come  the  impulses  which  carry  men  along  the  high 
road  of  common  experience  into  the  richer  meaning  and 
beauty  of  earthly  existence.  Food,  light,  warmth,  these 
three!  And  the  greatest  of  these  is  that  deep  unstudied 
consciousness  of  well-being  resisting  all  efforts  at  final 
analysis  or  formal  statement,  but  experienced  by  those 
whose  lives  are  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 

The  hearts  of  the  two  men  answered  to  him  long  before 
their  lagging  minds  had  puzzled  out  the  intellectual  im- 
plications of  that  rich  and  sweet  experience.  And  the 
heart  has  its  rights  no  less  than  the  head.  Alas  for  us  all 
if  we  had  nothing  but  bodies  to  eat  and  drink  with  as  do 
the  beasts  that  perish!  And  alas  for  us  if  we  were  nothing 
more  than  the  curious  gray  convolutions  which  make  up 
the  human  brain  with  no  faculties  which  transcend  the 
operations  of  an  intellectual  machine!  We  are  souls,  with 
all  the  full  capacities  of  faith  and  hope  and  love,  made  to 
wear  the  likeness  and  image  of  the  Eternal.  And  when 
our  souls  burn  within  us,  deep  answering  to  deep,  under 
such  messages  as  that  which  fell  that  Easter  Day  from 
the  lips  of  the  Lord  of  Life,  may  we  not  boldly  trust  the 
testimony  of  this  deeper  witness  to  the  truth! 

"  He  was  known  to  them  in  the  breaking  of  bread." 
He  entered  upon  all  those  homely  experiences  that  he 
might  sympathetically  taste  the  human  situation  at  all 
points  for  every  man.  He  first  "  manifested  his  glory  " 
so  that  his  disciples  ''  believed  on  him  "  with  a  firmer, 
richer,  warmer  faith  by  making  wine  for  a  wedding  where 
the  refreshments  had  unexpectedly  failed.  "  This  beginning 
of  miracles  did  Jesus  in  Cana  of  Galilee."  Now  at  the 
close  of  his  earthly  ministry  he  will  make  manifest  his 
glory  and  cause  his  disciples  to  believe  on  him  in  the  break- 
ing of  bread  at  the  end  of  their  weary  walk. 

We  value   all   this,   but   his   supreme   appeal   is   made   to 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  541 

the  religious  consciousness  which  glows  with  an  unwonted 
radiance  at  his  approach.  The  One  who  sets  you  free 
to  aspire  for  the  Highest,  the  One  who  causes  the  noblest 
ideals  you  ever  behold  to  rise  before  you  like  the  sun  shin- 
ing in  his  strength,  the  One  who  causes  your  will  to  leap 
like  a  strong  man  coming  out  of  his  chamber  to  run  a  race, 
this  is  the  Lord  whom  you  confess  in  the  exercise  of  your 
highest  power  as  the  Lord  of  Life. 

The  hearts  of  the  two  men  were  so  gladdened  by  what 
they  had  experienced  along  the  road  that  they  would  re- 
tain the  author  of  their  blessings  with  them  at  least  over 
night.  "  Abide  with  us  for  it  is  toward  evening  and  the 
day  is  far  spent."  They  would  never  have  made  bold  to 
invite  Pilate  the  Roman  Governor  had  he  suddenly  ap- 
peared on  the  road  to  Emmaus.  They  would  never  have 
ventured  upon  an  invitation  to  such  an  one  as  Caiaphas, 
who  was  High  Priest  that  year.  The  heads  of  Church  and 
State  would  have  frightened  the  two  plain  men  from  any 
such  offer  of  hospitality. 

But  the  One  who  from  that  hour  was  taking  the  moral 
government  of  the  world  upon  his  shoulder  had  shown  him- 
self so  sympathetic  in  his  familiar  contact  with  their  heart's 
needs  that  they  would  have  him  at  their  table.  "  And 
he  went  in  to  tarry  with  them  and  sat  at  meat  with  them 
and  took  bread  and  blessed  it  and  brake  and  gave  to 
them."  He  was  made  flesh  and  went  about  among  men 
full  of  grace  and  truth. 

"  As  that  day  was,  so  may  each  life  be,"  is  the  prayer 
of  Dr.  George  A.  Gordon.  "  The  morning  heaviness,  the 
walk  and  the  human  relief,  the  divine  companion  and 
interpretation,  the  full  and  mighty  answer  of  the  heart,  the 
evening  w^ith  the  risen  Christ  standing  in  its  reddening 
glow  and  peace  —  such  were  the  supreme  things  in  that 
great  day." 


xc 

THE  GREAT  COMMISSION 

Matt.  28  :  16-20;    Luke  24  :  36-49 

"  The  eleven  "  —  how  full  of  painful  reminiscence  and 
suggestion  is  the  sound  of  this  strange  number  now  ap- 
plied to  the  company  of  disciples!  "  The  eleven  disciples 
went  into  Galilee  unto  the  mountain  where  Jesus  had 
appointed  them.  And  when  they  saw  him,  they  wor- 
shiped him  —  but  some  doubted."  It  was  in  the  face  of 
a  reluctant,  questioning  mood  that  the  risen  Lord  estab- 
lished the  truth  of  his  claims.  There  in  little  insignificant 
Galilee  with  that  magnificent  reference  to  the  authority 
given  him  in  heaven  and  on  earth,  he  commissioned  his 
faithful  followers  for  the  wider  service. 

"Go  ye  into  all  the  world,"  he  said.  He  had  never 
really  traveled  abroad.  In  his  infancy  we  are  told  that 
he  had  been  carried  once  across  the  borders  of  Egypt. 
In  his  ministry  he  had  once  crossed  the  boundary  into 
Phoenicia.  But  his  life  was  spent  and  his  work  was  done 
in  a  country  smaller  than  the  state  of  New  Hampshire. 
Yet  he  had  ''  the  world  view  "  of  which  John  R.  Mott 
speaks  so  often  and  so  well.  He  lived  "  in  the  vision  and 
service  of  great  ideals." 

"  Go  ye  into  all  the  world."  The  One  who  is  more 
widely  known  than  any  other  in  history  is  speaking  here. 
He  is  planning  an  enterprise  world-wide  in  its  scope.  He 
is  thinking  of  that  day  when  all  the  nations  of  earth 
which  really  count  will  be  dating  their  history  and  their 
correspondence,  their  contracts  and  their  daily  papers,  from 

542 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  543 

the  day  of  his  birth.  "1917,"  we  write  it  now  every 
day  in  the  week.  It  is  that  long  since  he  was  born  in 
Bethlehem. 

He  was  so  tall  when  he  stood  up  that  he  could  see  a  long 
way  off.  He  makes  his  plans  in  seven  figures,  as  one  might 
say  —  he  seems  to  think  more  readily  in  millions  than  in 
dimes.  "  Disciple  all  nations,"  he  said.  ''  Repentance  and 
remission  of  sins  shall  be  preached  in  my  name  unto  all 
the  nations." 

"  Beginning  at  Jerusalem!  "  Begin  where  3^ou  a,re! 
The  place  to  begin  this  world-wide,  age-long  enterprise 
was  right  where  they  stood.  Go  into  all  the  world  finally 
but  begin  here.  The  place  to  inaugurate  any  great  move- 
ment, even  though  it  is  to  clasp  the  whole  round  world  in 
its  beneficent  embrace  and  move  in  majestic  fashion  down 
the  ages,  is  not  aw^ay  yonder  somewhere  in  the  distance, 
but  right  here  where  a  finer  spirit  of  fidelity  and  consecra- 
tion may  enter  at  once  upon  its  glorious  career. 

How  faithfully  the  disciples  observed  this  counsel!  When 
the  command  came,  ''  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,"  they  did 
not  begin  by  sending  one  man  to  the  north  on  a  camel  and 
another  to  the  south  with  his  donkey  and  having  another 
take  ship  to  sail  west.  They  gathered  the  believers  who 
were  within  reach  —  only  a  dozen  or  so  of  them  at  first  it 
seems  from  the  narrative  —  and  went  into  an  upper  room 
to  hold  a  prayer  meeting. 

This  little  company  of  believers  who  were  "  beginning 
at  Jerusalem  "  continued  in  prayer  and  supplication  in  one 
place,  with  one  mind  and  one  accord,  for  days.  When  the 
right  moment  came  the  spokesman  of  the  group,  whose 
name  was  Peter,  stood  up  and  voiced  their  conviction  and 
their  aspiration  in  a  notable  sermon.  Then  came  the  out- 
pouring of  the  Spirit  from  heaven  and  a  great  response 
from   the  people.     It  resulted   in   that  glorious  ingathering 


544  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  Many  were  added  to  the  Lord 
because  they  were  being  saved  and  the  world-wide  move- 
ment we  call  "  Christianity  "  was  under  way.  It  began 
right  because  those  men  started  in  where  they  were  in 
the  city  of  Jerusalem. 

The  religion  of  Christ,  according  to  our  faith,  is  the 
final  and  absolute  religion.  It  is  religion  universal  coming 
to  clear  self-consciousness  and  to  effective  vigor  first  in 
that  nation  providentially  prepared  for  it  and  then  in  all 
the  nations  embraced  within  its  missionary  activity.  It 
shows  itself  competent  to  offer  satisfaction  for  the  moral 
aspirations  of  those  who  are  near  and  of  those  afar  off. 
It  asserts  its  unique  and  superior  claims,  not  by  crushing 
or  denying  the  worth  of  all  other  religious  movements;  it 
follows  rather  the  method  of  its  Master  in  that  it  finds 
room  within  its  sympathy  for  all  the  yearnings  and  dis- 
coveries of  those  non-Christian  faiths  and  then  rejoices  to 
supplement  their  incompleteness.  It  comes  not  to  destroy 
but  to  fulfil. 

The  uniqueness  of  the  religion  of  Christ  which  underlies 
our  world-wide  missionary  effort  is  no  mere  dogmatic  as- 
sertion springing  from  mere  pride  in  our  own  faith.  It 
can  be  well  sustained  by  thorough,  competent  study  in  com- 
parative religion.  There  are  three  distinctive  characteris- 
tics of  our  Christian  gospel  resting  for  their  final  warrant 
upon  the  revelation  God  made  of  himself  in  Jesus  Christ. 

First,  the  perfection  of  its  ethical  conception  of  God  with 
the  revelation  of  the  divine  in  Jesus  Christ  as  a  historical 
basis  for  its  thought.  The  hideous  idols  with  their  gro- 
tesque faces  reveal  the  tendency  of  rude  men  to  worship 
that  which  is  seen  to  be  non-human.  The  gigantic  images 
of  Babylon  and  Assyria,  the  huge  figures  of  Buddha  in 
Japan  and  the  pantheistic  identification  of  the  material 
universe    itself    with    God,    all    testify    that    multitudes    of 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  545 

men  have  been  moved  to  prostrate  themselves  before  that 
which  was  simply  colossal.  The  Moslem  worship  of  Allah 
seen  as  "  Absolute  Will,"  but  in  such  hardness  and  isola- 
tion as  to  lack  the  qualities  necessary  for  moral  perfection, 
illustrates  the  adoration  of  sheer  Force.  Jesus  rendered 
the  race  his  most  conspicuous  service  in  that  he  shewed  us 
"  The  Father."     "  To  us  there  is  but  one  God,  the  Father." 

In  the  second  place  the  conception  of  salvation  as  the 
complete  enrichment  and  perfecting  of  human  personality 
with  the  life  of  Jesus  as  a  historical  basis  embodying  this 
perfection.  The  ascetic  idea  of  salvation  as  the  deliver- 
ance of  a  certain  section  of  the  life  from  evil  at  the  expense 
of  other  normal  interests  prudently  sacrificed  to  the  greater 
good,  no  longer  stands.  Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect, 
round,  entire,  even  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  entire. 
The  Christian  offer  of  salvation  insures  a  moral  personality 
ennobled  and  enriched  according  to  the  measure  of  the 
stature  of  full  manhood  in  Christ  Jesus. 

And  finally  the  hope  and  confidence  in  the  work  of 
establishing  the  perfect  Kingdom  of  God  upon  earth  with 
the  words  of  Jesus  and  the  record  of  human  redemption 
accomplished  through  him  thus  far  as  a  historical  basis 
for  such  confidence.  The  words,  "  Thy  kingdom  come," 
addressed  to  the  Eternal  God  in  firm  expectation  that  at 
last  they  will  not  be  left  unansv/ered  indicate  no  paring 
down  of  the  world's  evil  to  more  respectable  proportions, 
no  easy  compromise  with  the  passions  of  men  —  they 
anticipate  the  transformation  of  this  earthly  life  until 
through  the  complete  sway  of  the  divine  Spirit  it  has  be- 
come indeed  the  Father's  perfect  Kingdom. 

The  importance  of  sound  and  reasonable  convictions 
as  to  the  unique  character  and  the  absoluteness  of  the 
religion  of  Jesus  can  scarcely  be  overstated.  It  is  not 
enough  that  our  acceptance  of  Christianity  should  rest  on 


546  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

the  accident  of  birth  or  the  happy  fortune  of  early  train- 
ing; it  should  stand  also  upon  that  intelligent  comparison 
and  rational  selection  which  having  proved  all  things  holds 
fast  that  which  is  good,  supremely  good.  If  its  exponents 
are  to  go  forth  to  victorious  effort  among  the  non-Christian 
races  they  must  be  re-enforced  by  an  inwrought  convic- 
tion that  they  bear  with  them  the  supreme  word  of  God  to 
man.  They  must  go  as  confident  ambassadors,  certain 
that  the  moral  government  of  the  world  is  to  be  upon  the 
shoulder  of  him  whom  they  proclaim. 

When  the  returns  are  all  in  from  an  exhaustive  study  of 
comparative  religion,  the  hard  fact  stands  that  the  Chris- 
tian religion  alone  is  furnishing  the  necessary  moral  im- 
petus for  a  steadily  advancing  civilization.  Its  ability  to 
render  this  service  springs  from  the  strength  and  the 
breadth  of  its  convictions  and  from  the  sense  of  divine 
helpfulness  in  which  it  enables  the  believer  to  stand. 
And  these  convictions  are  no  mere  dream  of  some  brighter 
hour  —  they  rest  back  upon  the  words,  the  life  and  the 
subsequent  spiritual  achievements  of  Jesus  Christ  as  a 
sufficient  historical  basis. 

What  a  changed  attitude  has  come  toward  the  whole 
work  of  foreign  missions  within  the  last  ten  years.  The 
testimony  of  Christian  statesmen  like  Sir  Edward  Grey 
and  William  H.  Taft  to  the  power  of  the  missionary  in 
solving  problems  of  state  among  backward  peoples;  the 
founding  of  well-equipped  departments  of  missionary  train- 
ing in  connection  with  the  great  universities  and  theologi- 
cal schools;  the  enlistment  of  men  of  first-rate  capacity, 
lay  and  clerical,  for  the  furtherance  of  the  missionary 
enterprises  of  the  churches;  the  magnificent  enrollment  of 
the  choicest  young  men  and  young  women  from  the  col- 
leges and  universities  by  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement 
—  all  these  testify  to  the  larger  place  which  the  great  com- 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  547 

mission,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,"  has  today  in  the 
thought  of  Christendom. 

Come!  Follow!  Abide!  Go!  These  four  crucial  words 
from  the  lips  of  the  Master  indicate  the  order  of  experi- 
ence and  of  procedure  for  his  disciples.  They  had  for 
three  years  been  followers  —  now  they  were  to  be  leaders 
in  spiritual  effort. 

And  the  essential  method  is  also  here  indicated.  "  Ye 
shall  be  witnesses."  They  were  to  be  not  poets  nor  philoso- 
phers nor  scientists  nor  even  orators,  but  witnesses  to  what 
they  had  seen  and  heard  and  felt  of  the  divine  glory 
manifesting  itself  in  the  spiritual  recovery  of  men.  In 
that  high  mood  bearing  their  testimony  they  went  forth 
as  participants  in  a  movement  universal  in  its  scope  and 
enduring  as  time. 


XCI 
"  HE  ASCENDED  INTO  HEAVEN  " 

Luke  24  :  50-53;    Acts  1  : 1-11 

Here  is  the  last  scene  in  the  earthly  history  of  our 
Lord!  He  has  held  his  last  conference  with  his  disciples. 
He  has  placed  in  their  hands  and  upon  their  hearts  the 
great  commission.     He  is  now  to  be  parted  from  them. 

Where  does  he  go  for  this  tender,  significant  farewell? 
Not  to  Bethlehem,  where  he  was  born,  nor  to  Nazareth, 
where  he  grew  up.  Not  to  Mt.  Hernon,  where  he  was 
transfigured  before  them,  nor  to  Calvary,  where  he  suf- 
fered on  their  behalf.  "  He  led  them  out  as  far  as  Bethany 
and  blessed  them;  and  while  he  blessed  them  he  was 
parted  from  them  and  carried  up  into  heaven."  He  goes 
to  Bethany,  where  the  home  was  —  the  home  of  Mary, 
Martha  and  Lazarus,  the  home  which  had  sheltered  and 
comforted  him  in  those  weary  days  when  he  had  nowhere 
to  lay  his  head. 

How  he  honored  the  home,  the  earliest,  the  simplest, 
the  most  fundamental  of  all  our  human  institutions! 
His  first  miracle  was  wrought  in  a  home,  at  a  wedding  in 
Cana  of  Galilee.  He  framed  the  main  essentials  of  his 
teachings  in  the  language  of  the  home.  When  we  pray  we 
say,  "  Our  Father."  Repentance  is  the  act  of  a  homesick 
soul  saying  in  the  far  country  of  evildoing,  "  I  w^ill  arise 
and  go  to  my  Father."  Men  enter  the  Kingdom  by 
''  becoming  as  little  children."  The  sense  of  duty  is  the 
feeling  that  one  must  be  about  his  Father's  business. 
Heaven  is  "  My  Father's  house  "  where  the  many  mansions 
offer  room  for  all  the  Father's  children. 

548 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  549 

The  atmosphere  of  that  home  on  the  slopes  of  OHvet  has 
made  the  very  name  of  "  Bethany  "  as  sweet  as  a  psalm. 
"  On  the  preservation  of  the  home  depends  the  safety  of 
the  republic,"  said  one  of  our  wisest  statesmen  recently. 
"  Citizenship  and  character  are  murdered  In  the  tenements 
for  the  lack  of  homes,"  said  Jacob  RIIs.  The  Christian 
life  goes  down  In  defeat  in  many  a  soul,  say  all  the  relig- 
ious leaders,  for  the  lack  of  a  home  atmosphere  making 
possible  its  normal  growth. 

Men  have  gone  to  battle  In  all  the  centuries  "  for  their 
homes  and  firesides."  It  remains  to  be  seen  what  they 
will  do  for  the  sake  of  a  hot  air  register  in  a  boardlng^ 
house  or  the  steam  radiator  in  an  apartment  hotel  for 
bachelors.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  already  the  decay 
of  home  life  in  our  great  cities  has  been  to  the  detriment 
of  all  those  vital  forces  which  make  for  social  progress. 

There  at  Bethany  where  the  home  was  we  read  that 
"  a  cloud  received  him  out  of  their  sight."  The  cloud  has 
remained.  We  may  ask  a  host  of  questions  and  find  our- 
selves groping  in  the  mist.  "  How  did  he  rise?  To  what 
height  was  he  visible?  Where  did  his  body  go?  What 
became  of  his  garments?  "  The  writers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment did  not  undertake  to  answer  any  of  these  questions. 
They  personally  sought  to  withdraw  the  attention  of  men 
from  this  mysterious  event  and  fix  it  upon  the  spiritual 
activities  of  the  apostles  who  set  about  the  establishment 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth. 

"  Why  stand  ye  gazing  up  Into  heaven?  "  It  was  a 
natural  attitude  —  their  eyes  were  on  Christ.  He  was  the 
supreme  object  of  their  Interest  and  affection  —  why 
should  they  not  stand  gazing  upon  him  whenever  op- 
portunity offered? 

But  the  time  had  come  for  an  advance.  This  was  to 
be   Ascension    Day    in    their   spiritual   history.     And    when 


550  THE   MASTER'S  WAY 

v>e  speak  of  "  ascension,"  we  use  language  in  its  popular 
rather  than  in  its  scientific  sense.  There  is  really  no 
"  up  "  or  "  down  "  in  this  wide,  roomy  universe  where  we 
find  ourselves.  If  you  went  from  here  to  the  moon  which 
you  saw  shining  overhead  last  night,  you  might  call  it 
"  going  up  to  the  moon."  But  when  you  reached  the  moon 
and  looked  back,  you  would  not  be  looking  down.  There, 
hanging  above  you  in  your  sky,  would  be  the  huge  bulk 
of  this  old  earth.     There  is  no  absolute  "  up  "  or  '*  down." 

When  we  speak  of  "  the  ascension  of  Christ,"  therefore 
we  do  not  mean  that  he  went  up  and  up  and  up,  until  at 
last  he  arrived,  no  one  knows  where.  We  mean  that  he 
withdrew  his  visible,  local,  tangible  presence  from  the  eyes 
of  men.  He  went  into  that  unseen  world  of  spiritual  forces 
which  are  everywhere  and  forever  effective. 

The  ministry  of  Jesus  was  brief  —  it  was  contained  in 
only  three  short  years.  His  entire  earthly  career  covered 
only  three  and  thirty  years  —  the  thirty  years  lost  in  ob- 
scurity except  for  one  glimpse  of  him  at  his  birth  and 
another  glimpse  when  he  was  taken  as  a  boy  to  the  Temple. 
It  was  never  intended  that  somewhere  on  earth  there 
should  be  permanently  a  local  visible  presence  on  which 
men  might  gaze  as  forty  centuries  have  gazed  upon  the 
Pyramids.  He  walked  among  us  for  a  brief  hour,  showing 
us  his  face  of  moral  interest,  reaching  out  his  hand  of 
fellowship,  tasting  the  human  situation  for  every  man,  and 
then  he  was  gone.  He  had  withdrawn  into  that  unseen 
world  which  is  eternal. 

His  ascension  therefore  meant  the  lifting  of  his  principles, 
his  attitudes,  his  spiritual  energies  into  a  world  of  perma- 
nence where  they  could  be  seen  with  the  eye  of  faith  and 
enjoyed  by  the  responsive  soul  through  all  the  years  to 
come.  It  meant  the  exaltation  of  that  local  presence  into 
a     universal     presence     capable     of     realization     anywhere. 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  551 

Wherever  two  or  three  of  his  friends  are  sympathetically 
agreed  upon  the  accomplishment  of  the  high  ends  he  had  in 
view,  there  he  is  manifest  in  their  midst. 

His  disciples  at  Bethany  became  eye-wutnesses  of  the 
beginning  of  that  vast  process.  There  gazing  into  heaven 
they  saw  the  inception  of  that  mighty  movement  of  thought 
and  feeling  which  would  at  last  disciple  all  nations  baptiz- 
ing them  into  all  the  divine  helpfulness  of  Father,  Son  and 
Holy  Spirit. 

"As  ye  have  seen  him  go,  so  in  like  manner  ye  shall  see 
him  come."  When?  Within  a  few  days.  The  disciples 
who  heard  these  words  went  into  an  upper  room  and 
prayed  until  they  were  all  filled  with  the  Spirit  that  was  in 
him.  They  vrent  out  and  began  to  speak  w^ith  other 
tongues  and  with  new  effectiveness  —  it  had  never  been 
like  this  with  them  before.  Men  of  all  lands  gathered  at 
Jerusalem  heard  them  speak,  each  one  in  his  own  tongue, 
the  message  of  eternal  life.  Without  leaving  the  city  the 
disciples  were  already  going  into  all  the  world  with  the 
gospel  and  were  conscious  that  he  was  with  them  always  in 
that  blessed  work. 

When  Jesus  walked  in  visible  form  in  Palestine  it  was 
inevitable  that  Christian  interest  should  be  localized. 
His  disciples  would  feel  that  where  he  was,  the  divine 
presence  could  best  be  realized.  "  When  they  were  in 
his  visible  presence,  they  felt  themselves  nearer  to  him 
than  when  they  were  away  —  they  could  not  help  it." 
His  ascension  would  mean  the  transfer  of  their  interest 
from  a  local,  visible  presence  to  a  universal,  invisible 
presence  to  be  enjoyed  everywhere. 

"It  could  not  be  that  living  among  men  he  should  just 
live  on  forever,  never  allowing  his  ministry  to  pass  beyond 
the  imperfection  of  the  visible,  always  drawing  the  hosts 
of  believers   to  Jerusalem,   in   place  of  lifting  them   up   to 


552  THE   MASTER'S   WAY 

his  spiritual  home  in  holiness.  So  there  came  a  disap- 
pearance which  was  not  death  —  a  disappearance  strange 
and  mysterious  but  not  more  wonderful  than  had  been  the 
life  and  character  of  him  who  so  departed." 

It  helped  the  disciples  to  believe.  When  Jesus  was  sit- 
ting in  some  narrow  room  or  standing  in  the  Temple  at 
Jerusalem,  it  seemed  a  thing  incredible  that  he  should  say^ 
"All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth. "^ 
Hedged  in  by  the  limitations  of  an  earthly  life  and  resi- 
dence, it  might  seem  unwarranted  boasting  for  him  to  say, 
"  Go  ye  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations."  But  here 
under  God's  vast  sky,  when  they  saw  him  rising  before 
their  eyes  into  the  infinite  space  of  heaven,  their  vision 
cleared  and  broadened;    their  faith  grew  firm  and  glad. 

Why,  then,  stand  ye  gazing  at  this  wonder?  The  time 
soon  passes  for  the  silent,  passive  contemplation  of  the 
great  mysteries  of  human  experience.  The  time  comes  for 
the  translation  of  these  rapt  visions  of  ours  into  deeds. 
The  dream,  if  it  be  worth  having,  must  begin  to  come  true 
in  some  worthy  achievement.  The  privilege  of  looking  into 
the  face  of  the  Master  must  bring  new  impulse  for  doing 
what  he  would  have  us  do.  If  you  have  seen  the  Lord 
Christ  high  and  lifted  up,  if  you  have  heard  his  voice,  if 
you  understand  in  some  measure  his  great  wish  for  human 
society,  then  the  hour  has  struck  for  you  to  cease  gazing 
upon  those  sublime  verities  in  wonder  and  amazement  — 
the  hour  has  struck  for  you  to  work  them  out  in  actual 
life. 

It  required  an  angel,  the  narrative  says,  to  give  a  dif- 
ferent tilt  to  the  faces  of  those  disciples,  to  change  them 
from  the  attitude  where  they  gazed  into  the  sky,  into  an 
attitude  where  they  gave  attention  to  the  spiritual  needs  of 
the  people  about  them.  In  our  day  when  a  profound 
intellectual   interest  is  felt  in  everything  in   heaven   above 


THE   LIFE   ETERNAL  553 

and  on  the  earth  beneath  and  in  the  waters  under  the 
earth,  it  will  take  a  legion  of  angels  to  transform  all  the 
gazers  into  doers.  How  deeply  interested  we  are  in  our 
problems!  How  slow  we  are  ofttimes  in  taking  hold  to 
solve  them! 

If  you  would  really  know  him,  make  it  the  aim  of  your 
life  to  translate  the  vision  of  an  ascended  Christ  into  the 
experience  of  an  Effective  Christ  as  he  works  within  you  to 
accomplish  his  good  pleasure.  Stand  not  forever  gazing 
at  the  sanctities  of  worship,  at  the  perplexing  mysteries  of 
religious  truth,  at  the  difhculties  in  the  way  of  realizing 
his  vast  ideals,  but  take  hold  somewhere,  putting  into 
operation  the  impulse  you  gain  from  looking  upon  his  face. 


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